Olusola Oke, gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged his supporters and Ondo state people not to listen to those using his marriage to an Ibo woman to attack his aspiration.
Oke spoke during the weekend at a town hall meeting with the APC unit, ward and local government leaders held in Igbara-Oke, headquarters of Ifedore Local Government Area.
The town hall meeting was organised in preparation for the APC shadow election which has been slated for April 20, 2024.
Oke’s political opponents have been trying to deploy the ethnic origin of his second wife, Nkem, to mobilise public opinion against him.
Oke said it is not a sin for any man to marry outside his ethnic group, describing his Ibo wife as a wonderful and compassionate woman.
He noted that his political opponents pretend not to know his Yoruba wife of more than four decades, Dr. Daisi, in order to score selfish political points.
The governorship aspirant declared that he is a man who is in firm control of his family.
“They will want to deceive you that I have an Ibo wife as if it is a sin to marry outside the Yoruba race,” Oke told his teeming supporters.
He added: “I have a Yoruba wife, Dr. Daisi Oke, who has been my director for 41 years. But they would blur that for selfish reasons. Let me say that I am in firm control of my family.”
Oke, who is a frontline gubernatorial aspirant on the APC platform, assured party representatives of his commitment to build secured farm settlements, construct roads to farms and rejuvenate dead industries using the private sector.
He promised to create tech hubs for young minds at local government and senatorial levels to help them unlock their potentials for the economic prosperity of the state.
The governorship aspirant said the economic regeneration of Ondo state would only be possible through agriculture, coastal development and an aggressive industrial development.
Oke warned the APC members against giving the ticket of the party to who has not been part of them.
“Don’t vote a stranger as governor. I have been part of your challenges and seek to be part of the solution,” he said.
Oke assured the APC members that the supremacy of the party will be preserved in his administration.
He further promised to ensure the return of Akure to the status of a befitting state capital through the provisions of basic amenities like modern stadium, water, efficient health care and modern roads.
Reviewing his previous failed attempts for the guber seat, Oke declared that it is his turn to be governor, submitting that God has positioned him to emplace good governance in Ondo state.
The youth leader in Ifedore, Monday Adamu, publicly promised to support Oke’s campaign with the sum of one million naira.
Representatives of the APC leaders, who spoke on behalf of others, reiterated their unflinching support for Oke, saying party leaders had enjoyed supports from the governorship aspirant over the years.
Oke led the APC supporters to observe a minute silence, each, for the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and Dr. Paul Akintelure, a former aspirant, who died few days ago, while praying for the repose of their souls.
Other local government areas visited by Oke during the weekend are Akure North, Akure South, Idanre and Ondo West.
