By Okechukwu Jombo
As aspirants and members of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State are preparing for tomorrow’s governorship primary, Wale Akinterinwa, who is one of the few prominent ones among the aspirants, has declared that he would come out victorious at the poll.
He states this in Ile-Oluji Okegbo/Ile-Oluji Local Government Area of the state while fielding questions from newsmen during interface with the party’s leaders and members.
He also disclosed that some governorship aspirants are already reaching out to him and they could begin to step down for him the Saturday primary.
Akinterinwa, who was welcome by people of the town in their thousands, appreciated the support of the people, describing them as being sincere in their expressions and attitudes.
He said: “The people were enthusiastic, and one thing is obvious: you can see that they see us as the alternative, the change they desire.
“I want to believe what I saw on their part was sincerity; they want a new person. They want somebody knowledgeable, somebody who has the capacity, somebody who has been around long enough, somebody whom they know and who they know has been in government, somebody they can fraternise with.
“I could see that the warmth that exuded from them was palpable; you could feel it. When we go out, we don’t take crowds from one local government to the other. So, our crowd is organic; it is within that environment. I believe the state is ready for us, and they want us.
“I expect that on Saturday, we will come out as the winners of the primaries, by the grace of God. I won’t be surprised if aspirants start stepping down for me. Some of them (aspirants) are reaching out to me.”
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Responding to questions on the choice of Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State as the chairman of the party’s primary, Akinterinwa said the leadership of the party is sure he’s a man of integrity and also has the capability of handling the assignment.
Akinterinwa said: “I expect that the Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency, Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo, I don’t know him, but I believe he is a man of integrity, a man who has capacity. Obviously, for choosing him to come and conduct the election here (Ondo State), the party hierarchy must know that he is capable of doing a good job.
“I expect that we will have a level playing field and that we will have free and fair primaries, hitch-free, even though people are still a bit skeptical due to certain things.
“But all I know is that despite some of these obstacles, I’ll surmount them and come out victorious.
“The party has a structure, and we already have an acting national chairman. I believed that the people coming to conduct the primaries were also members of the party and had an understanding of their role.”
