2018 governorship election: Osun speaker denies abandoning guber ambition

2018 governorship election: Osun speaker denies abandoning guber ambition

- The race for the Osun state governorship election is getting interesting by the day

- One of the leading contenders in the race is the speaker, Osun state House of Assembly, Dr. Najeem Salaam

- The speaker has debunked rumours that he has dropped his ambition to lead the state

The speaker of Osun state House of Assembly, Dr. Najeem Salaam, has debunked some media reports suggesting he has ditched his governorship ambition based on a Lagos meeting he had with the national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in company of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the state chairman of the party, Prince Gboyega Famodun.

According to the speaker, at no time was he asked to step down for any aspirant during the Lagos meeting.

He made this known in a statement sent to Legit.ng by his chief press secretary, Goke Butika, stressing that he is currently engaged on how the political atmosphere would be managed in the state without any hitch.

According to him, a free and fair election in the APC would be the antidote to the looming tension and crisis in the party.

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He said Tinubu did not ask him to jettison his ambition or step down, but rather sought his view on how unity of purpose and victory could be achieved in the forthcoming governorship election in Osun and he offered his own opinion and also promised to inform his political structure when he returned home from lesser hajj.

Dr. Salaam revealed that he was compelled by the twisted narrative sold to the public by social media handle of supporters of an aspirant who stand to benefit from his recuse from the governorship race, to abort his trip to Saudi Arabia and returned home to put the record straight.

Part of the statement read: “Why will Asiwaju Bola Tinubu ask me to step down? For who and for what? He is our national leader and symbol of our collective confidence. Yes, I met with him in company of Governor Aregbesola and our party chairman, Prince Famodun and we talked about political development in Osun and we are all concerned about unity of purpose. That's where it ends.

“To the glory of God, I am an aspirant, I am eminently qualified as a Nigerian and a Ph. D holder in political science; leadership position is not strange to me, having presided over the house of 26 equals in the last seven years. So, why would I step down for anyone? Who can be more qualified in terms of management of material and human resources?”

He asked his political structure and delegates who have sympathy for him to soldier on with their mobilization drive and ensure victory for his candidature at the primary election, insisting that his zone, Osun West has been rudely deprived of its right to equal political opportunity since 1999 when democracy returned to the country.

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Meanwhile, a chieftain of the APC in Osun state, Honourable Akindiya Amos, who is from Olaoluwa local government area of Osun West senatorial district has condemned the agitation by some individuals from his senatorial district insisting that they must produce the next governor of the state.

Akindiya, a serving commissioner in the Osun state House of Assembly Service Commission, said the argument does not hold water as power rotation is alien to the APC constitution.

He made this assertion while fielding questions from journalists on the preparation of the APC ahead of the September 22 gubernatorial election coming up this year.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola Interview: 'State of Osun' is correct (Exclusive ) on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng

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