An Ogun State chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party and convener of The Alternative Movement, Otunba Segun Showunmi on Friday warned that the 2027 governorship race in the state must be about advancing developmental agenda and not to spread unnecessary sentiment just to score a cheap political point.
Otunba Showunmi has equally berated Nigerians for their vote apathy lamenting that as much the citizens would be ready to discuss the challenges of the country at every forum but they will refused to come out on the election day to use their vote to effect the much wanted desirable change.
The PDP chieftain said that it is regrettable that even in the last Saturday Federal Capital Territory council elections only about 7.1% of voters came out to exercise their franchise.
The opposition leader said that as long as people would maintain this worrisome indifference to actively engaged in the country's political process, the desire for a change of government that would only serve the greatest good of the people would always be a mirage.
Showunmi disclosed this on Friday while speaking during the visit of the leadership of Action Alliance who came around to invite him to be their governorship candidate in the state ahead of 2027 election.
Recall that the labour party in the state has also recently adopted the PDP chieftain as their governorship candidate citing his love for the masses and selfless leadership disposition among others as the reason why they have found him suitable for the task of taking over from Gov Dapo Abiodun in 2027.
For the 2027 governorship race in the state, Showunmi said that the state ought to agree if it will allow Ogun West senatorial district which has not tasted the governorship seat of the state since its creation 50 years to have their first shot in 2027.
He added that "the second question we need to go and ask ourselves seriously is that what does the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria say concerning eligibility,
the right to vote and be voted for"
Showunmi said that "I say this because my ears are overfull
with some of your leaders,
politicians and the others,
who will abandon their own campaign and be screaming, non-stop that somebody is not from somewhere"
He disclosed that it is therefore uncharitable for some politicians in the state to go on air and be attacking another or querying eligibility of a particular politician to contest for the governorship of the state when he is already serving as a senator in the state.
Showunmi said that "If we decided to do the DNA test of all of us some of you may even be surprised that the people you are even calling your
parents are not your parents
How can you say that somebody who has been given the wherewithal to represent the
senatorial district is no longer from your state?
"The eligibility hurdle that says that somebody can be voted for and can
present himself for voting has already been crossed out by being
the senator representing Ogun West
"So, I don't have time for
bending issues, so if you want to campaign, do your campaign on agenda that will bolster the development of the state and not on unnecessary frivolities".
Showunmi said that the country is said to have issued about 90 million Permanent Voter Cards but people would rather collect these cards not because they wanted to vote but because they want to be using as valid means of identification.
He explained that "I am told that we have done over 90 million PVC
in Nigeria but where all those PVC on the day of election?
"Unfortunately, more than any other country in the world, Nigeria
is one of the nations where the conversation on development,
on government, on politics, and the political player,
is the highest and the noisiest
"You will naturally expect that a population that speaks about these issues in their houses,
in their backyards, in their schools, on television, on radio, everywhere, you will naturally expect that.they ought to know, and they should know that participating is the only thing that makes sense.
"We have just had an election in Abuja. I do not quarrel or begrudge those who won, but I am extremely unhappy that about 7.1% came out
to participate despite being an enlightened environment".
He disclosed that this was why he founded The Alternative Movement to raise people's awareness and consciousness on the need for the people get more interested in the political participation to have a desirable change.
Showunmi said that it is totally unacceptable that just a handful of people will be allowed to be maltreating over 220 million people because Nigerians would prefer to stay away from its political process
The PDP chieftain thanked the leadership of AA for finding it worthy to identify with his commitment to entrench good governance and expand political participation vowing to pursue only developmental agenda that would further make life more meaningful if he was given the opportunity to become the governor of the state.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of AA in the state, Prof Julius Tunde Adebola said that the party decided to approach Showunmi to be their governorship candidate for the 2027 election because of his stance against bad governance and capacity to replicate forthright leadership and take the state to higher height.
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