Former Director of Community and Strategy to the immediate past Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, has counseled the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the need to shelf its partisanship and join hands with the government of the day in moving the state forward.
Okanlawan, himself a governorship aspirant in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries that produced Isiaka Oyetola who eventually won the general election, stated this in a statement he sent to The DEFENDER over the weekend.
He said the most honourable thing to do for the PDP and any other opposition party is to join hands with the Governor of Osun, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola in the task of developing the state.
Okanlawon made the appeal in the wake of the judgment of the Supreme Court which ruled on Friday that Oyetola is the validly elected governor of the State.
The former Special Adviser said now that the PDP and its candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke have exhausted all known constitutional means to thwart the victory of Oyetola all to no avail, the only credible alternative for the party and all well-meaning citizens of the state is support the government in order to accelerate development.
“First, we must salute the courage of the PDP for its efforts to deepen democratic practice by approaching the tribunal to test the strength of Oyetola’s victory. Now that the victory has passed all integrity and credibility tests as affirmed by the apex court of the land, we advise that the next step should be to cooperate with the government for the good of the people.” Okanlawon stated
He explained that all the efforts by the PDP and its candidate to upturn the victory of the APC was within the democratic and constitutional rights of the party and its candidate. “Now that democracy has been well served, let us move on by creating an atmosphere of peace that is germane for the economic progress of the state.” He added
He said the APC has already laid a solid foundation for the progress of the state in its first eight years, adding that the Oyetola government is a continuation of the culture of commitment to the welfare of the people.
