As scheming for the ticket of various political parties continues, a leading Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gubernatorial Aspirant for Ogun State, Segun Sowunmi, has said that he would push for a diligent probe and prosecution of those who have governed the state and plundered its resources, if elected in 2023.
The governorship aspirant declared that he would ensure that looters of the state’s resources are jailed, saying he should also be jailed if found to have also stolen from the state.
Sowunmi, who made the declaration at his Abeokuta, Ogun State residence, during Iftar (breaking of Ramadan fast) said he should be jailed if he steals the state money.
The aspirant expressed worry that the state had been plunged into unnecessary debts, stating that a new administration, would have to renegotiate the state’s debt for it to survive.
He said: “I’m chasing immortality by the policies and programmes that we will run here. And if one day you find me a thief, jail me, because I will jail those who have stolen before me.
“Let nobody be deceived, I’m not asking to lead Ogun so that we can pamper ourselves. No.
“Government business is a sacred trust which you hold on behalf of all the collectives.
“This is Ogun. The vast majority of people living here are bona-fide citizens of this place whose parents are the owners of this land. You cannot be in charge of our land, assets, taxes and goodwill, and all you will do is to steal and they will not probe you? You must be joking.”
He also declared that the gubernatorial election in the state can never be for the highest bidder, rather there should be issue-based campaigns on how to fix the state and inspire the younger generation.
“Ogun can never be for the highest bidder. It has never been for the highest bidder. It will never be for the highest bidder.
“We are noble people. We just don’t think that you should be throwing your weight around. We are not people that are coming to you with money. We are people of parents who have given us pedigree who have shown us handwork, values and insisted on us that it can be done,” he said.
Sowunmi promised to run a government with “complete paradigm shift from the status quo.”
The aspirant promised that he would establish Ogun State Institute of Policy and Management Studies, to chart a new course for the Gateway State.
He said: “I’m interested in leading Ogun so that we may do three things. If we win, we will start a new deal. Whatever it is that they are limping on, called Obafemi Awolowo’s model needs to be rewritten, extended and redesigned.
“How do you explain that you can’t find Igbo people begging for money and it is we the Awolowo’s children littering the place doing “Babiya Allah”, a thing that was alien to our grandparents. Our grandparents didn’t really go to school, but do any of you have a recollection of your grandparents running up and down in the streets, begging for money? So, it means our model is not working.
“If our model is working, why are our people poor?”
He also accused the state government of paying lip service to security, education and development issues in the state.
Sowunmi said if elected governor, his administration, would ensure indigenisation of Ogun State Government Contracts to check capital flight.
He said the small scale businessmen and businesswomen, would be focused upon, in order to revive, the economy of the state.
The aspirant said his administration, would embark cash transfers to petty businessmen and women so that they can expand and engage more hands.
