The ADC governorship campaign council's three-week statewide trip, which had brought the team across all 21 of the state's local government areas, came to an end with the rallies in the Yagba Federal Constituency.
According to Comrade Shola Adebola, the party's campaign spokesperson, the ADC alone was able to do this. He said that "no other political parties went around the entire state and communities like ADC has done," adding that Abejide's extraordinary readiness and preparation for the next duty of government was demonstrated by the massive undertaking.
Alongside his running mate, Dr. Idris Omede, Abejide also had his wives, Mrs. Esther Abejide and Hajia Fatima Omede; the chairman of the State Party, John Adaji; and the chairman, director general, and secretary of the campaign council, Chief Shola Ojo, Hon. Adangu Suberu, and Chief Dare Olatunde, as well as other members of the ADC campaign council, in Kabbabunu, Ijumu, Okehi, Adavi, Ogorimagongo, Okene, Ajaokuta, Kotonkarfe, Idah, Ibaji, Ofu, Olamaboro, Omala, Ankpa, Igalamela-Odolu, Dekina, Bassa, Lokoja, Mopamuro, Yagba West and Yagba East Local Councils.
The team met and spoke with traditional, religious, and thought leaders in their different palaces, residences, and sites of worship throughout the tour.
Prior to the team's Friday rally in Yagba East Local Council, which passed through the council's headquarters in Isanlu and Ife-Olukotun in the Yagba Southeast axis of the council, the "Leke/Omede Rescue Mission" campaign train received a major boost on Thursday in Mopamuro and Yagba West as thousands of people turned out to welcome the team in Mopa, Egbe, and Odo-Ere, respectively.
It became a singing and dance extravaganza where most of the campaign speeches were sidelined.
Most of the supporters at the Egbe demonstration, including market ladies, craftsmen, student organizations, members of road transportation drivers' unions, and motorcyclists, chanted the same song: "We're not an ungrateful people." They arrived at the location as early as 10 a.m. and stayed until the program ended at 6 p.m.
Abejide, a second-term member of the House of Representatives, thanked the public at the rally held at St. John's Primary School in Egbe for their support in helping him and the ADC win all seven of the community's electoral wards in the House of Representatives election in February. He begged that the gesture be repeated during the next gubernatorial contest.
"On February 25, 2023, I won seven over seven wards in Egbe," he declared. I appreciate all of your tremendous help. "Will you repeat this on November 11, 2023?"
The audience, which was primarily made up of women and young people, erupted in a booming "Yeeesss."
The ADC candidate himself led dancing as the scene turned into a carnival of gospel hymns and triumph songs.
Abejide informed the fervent gathering of supporters that, in addition to the payment of WAEC fees for final-year secondary school students, which he initiated and has continued for more than six years, he has built interior and interstate roads and drainage systems throughout the communities in the three local councils in the Yagba Federal Constituency in his first four years as a member of the House of Representatives. He stated that these projects should be the responsibility of local and state governments, particularly the latter, if permitted to operate, without taking money intended for local government development from federal allocations.
In a similar vein, he described his stewardship as included the provision of vehicles for first, second, and third class traditional rulers and persons throughout the Constituency's 34 electoral wards, as well as empowerment for widows and young people. This is in addition to the supply of medications and other medical supplies for the renovation of general/cottage hospitals, as well as the JAMB-accredited 300-seat contemporary ICT center in Isanlu, which enables Yagba students to take exams nearby.
He pledged to carry out further work and duplicate his successes in other regions of the state if elected. He stated that the majority of the interstate routes in the three senatorial districts have grown unsightly and pledged to concentrate on improving them. Furthermore, he pledged to rebuild the shuttered Kabba-Egbe federal road without waiting for the federal government to fix the problematic route. He chastised Yagba natives who are currently employed by the Yahaya Bello-led All Progressives Congress (APC) state administration for putting their own interests, appointments, and contracts ahead of the suffering of the people. He charged that the state's APC administration had accomplished nothing in Yagba during its eight years in office in terms of projects. The ADC candidate claimed to understand the struggles faced by elementary school teachers and local government employees who depend on percentage pay and pledged, should he be elected, to give the third level of government more autonomy.
When this occurs, he claimed, it will not only put an end to the time of percentage pay but also allow local governments to carry out projects like building roads, water systems, and drainage systems inside their borders and guarantee the unquestionable access of traditional rulers to their full salaries as well as other benefits and incentives that they rightfully deserve.
He promised not to disappoint the Yagba people as he expressed gratitude for their devotion for him. During the event, he also revealed that the contractor in charge of the Omi-Odo-Ara-Igbaruku road repair project has been deployed and that work on the road will start in a week.
Speaking to the assembly at Isanlu, Abejide emphasized the need of concentrating on only one candidate and warned against Okun people splitting their ballots. As the consensus candidate of Kogi West voters in the November 11 election, he considered the endorsement he had received from notable figures in the Kogi West Elders Forum (KWEF), stating that the choice was made with the best interests of the District as a whole in mind.
"Yagba is my home, and we will all soon start to reap the benefits of democracy," Not just Yagba, but all Kogi State residents. As soon as we assume the position of authority in Lugard House, all of your demands will be attended to promptly and immediately. "Now, listen, Kogi West Lokan, Okun Lokan, Awa Lokan, Emi Lokan.
If I don't that, it means I am a bastard and I am not a bastard," he continued. Kogi West has the turn now. It's my turn, and it's Okunland's turn. Let's not split our votes; the Kogi West Elders Forum wisely nominated me as the Kogi West people's consensus candidate. I have visited every corner of Ebiraland and Igalaland, and no matter where I go, I hear the same thing: Kogi West will take center stage in 2023. In the thirty-two years that Kogi State has existed, Okun and Kogi West have not produced a governor. The Ebira have produced governors in the former Kwara State, and they have served two terms as governors in the current Kogi State, totaling twelve years. The Igala have served 19 times as governors.
We have made and will continue to make repeated appeals to our Kogi Central and East brothers and sisters to support the current power shift to Kogi West, and everywhere we went, we received their assurance. They claimed not to be avaricious individuals. In Kogi West, our brothers decided that it is our turn. Thus, as our elders will say, "charity begins at home," we must first humble ourselves. We can only demonstrate that we are genuinely prepared to take our turn by voting in large numbers for ADC, Leke Abejide, and Idris Omede.
"I appeal to my fellow Okun kinsmen and fellow contestants, such as Senator Dino Melaye of the PDP and Olayinka Braimoh of the African Alliance (AA), to consider the merits of my endorsement in the wisdom of our elders," he continued. They ought to work with me to make sure that the power shift to Kogi West occurs in January 2024.
According to Abejide, the endorsement "aims to reduce the number of Kogi West candidates, thereby increasing our senatorial zone's chances in the election." Since Kogi West was founded more than 32 years ago, the state has never had a governor, but if everyone works together, the 2023 election offers us a strong chance.
He urged the electorate to put party allegiance aside and support the rainbow coalition in its effort to pull the state out of its current socioeconomic stupor. He reiterated that his ambition to become governor is the result of a partnership that includes prominent members of the APC and PDP. He stressed that, despite belonging to the ADC, he had backed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's presidential campaign from the outset, in contrast to many other APC members in Kogi State who chose to support Governor Yahaya Bello's bid. He claimed that only after the presidential primary election did Bello's men sign up for the Tinubu/Shetima Presidential project.