Hundreds of APC, PDP, LP members defect to ADP in Ogun as Sokunbi vows not to allow women, pensioners suffer if elected as Governor
Hundreds of members of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) from all parts of the State over the weekend have dumped their parties for the Action Democratic Party (ADP), in Abeokuta.
Receiving the defectors at the Party Secretariat over the weekend, the candidate of the ADP for March this year Governorship election, Hon. Olanrewaju Kazeem Sokunbi, expressed confidence in the victory of the party.
Sokunbi assured them of justice, fairness and equity amongst members of the ADP and called on others who are yet to join to do so.
He expressed delight that the new members have seen the light while urging them to use their political weight to ensure victory for the party come 2023 and beyond.
He, however, appealed to both old and new members of the ADP in the state to work together in peace and harmony and emphasized on the supremacy of party decisions.
He said: “We are here today to receive these new members, who have decided to join the ADP.
“We are here to make another history, the history of receiving our people, some of whom we laboured for this party together.
“It is welcome back home for these members sitting here today. They travelled somewhere and now they have returned to their abode where they are truly valued and appreciated.
“I urge you all to work together for the peace, unity and progress of the party to harness victory in 2023.”
Speaking the chairperson of the Party, Amb. Yeye Olufunke Olanrewaju, thanked the new members and urged them to be dedicated to the party’s principles and ideals, saying the challenges ahead required more commitment and sacrifice.
She noted that the present mandate of the new members if elected into office, would help to accelerate the desired socio-economic development of the area with the support of his governor
Meanwhile, the ADP Governorship candidate in Ogun state Hon. Olanrewaju Kazeem Sokunbi has pledged not to allow widows, pensioners, and other vulnerable groups in the state to suffer if he is elected governor in March, this year.
Sokunbi who made the pledge while addressing ADP stakeholders in Abeokuta , explained that he was deeply touched by the plight of these vulnerable groups in the state.
He disclosed that in the course of his tour of the 20 council areas of the state; widows and pensioners have presented their plight to him and expressed support that he has the capacity to end their sufferings if he becomes the Governor.
Stressing that he pities the widows and pensioners, the ADP governorship candidate said he would run a people friendly and inclusive administration that would take special care of vulnerable groups in the state.
His words;”You have a husband in me, you have a father in me. My administration would pay monthly stipends to widows, empower them and also abolish all obnoxious cultural practices targeted at women. “
Sokunbi also explained that he chose a woman as his running mate because they play a very special role in stabilizing the family and society.
“Under an ADP administration in Ogun, women would be put in charge of quality ministries, not just confining them to the Ministry of woman affairs as has become the practice over the years. The quality of a family depends on the quality of the woman in the house. If you elevate the woman you elevate the standard of the family,” he said.
Lamenting the plight of pensioners in the state, the ADP governorship hopeful said that it was inhuman for a government in power to fail to perform the simplest duty of paying pensions and gratuities.
He promised to prioritize the payment of the backlogs of pensions and gratuities owed pensioners by setting up a rotational ad hoc committee composed of pensioners who would oversee the payment of the pension arrears.
“It is ridiculous the practice of counting payment of salaries and pensions as achievements of the government. It is equally absurd for governorship candidates to using payment of salaries as campaign premises.
“Ogun pensioners are being owed because we have a government that doesn’t serve the people. Any government that can’t pay salaries and pensions for up to three months have no legitimacy to continue existing.”
