Alabi Promises To Reposition PDP For Victory In Ondo State
one of the aspirants vying for the party’s chairmanship position, Engr. Johnson Alabi has promised to reposition the umbrella party in the Sunshine State for victory in October gubernatorial election if he becomes the Chairman.
J.J Alabi as he is popularly known gave this assurance on Saturday in Akure during an interview. He posited that PDP stands a good chance of reclaiming power in Ondo State if the needful is done. Alabi emphasized that he stand a very good chance of becoming the next PDP Chairman in Ondo State and has all it take to drive the party to victory.
“I have a lot of plans for the party once I become the chairman. So, the case now is not if I become the chairman; as I speak to you, I already know that I am the next chairman of PDP in Ondo state. And going by that, I am looking at re-engineering the party and repositioning of PDP in Ondo state. However, the current executive in Ondo state have tried their best. The success of a leader is to have a good successor”.
Alabi assured that PDP will begin to witness mass defection from other political parties in the state once he emerges as the state party chairman. “I tell you with my influence and with my connections with people in this community; once I become the chairman, a lot of people will begin to decamp to our party naturally”.
On his main mission of seeking office as PDP Chairman, Alabi said he plans to provide a level playing field for all members of the party once he becomes the chairman.
He also spoke on why PDP lost power in 2016 as well as his plans to foster unity in the party. “PDP lost election in Ondo state because we miscalculated then and because of the high handedness of the man at the helm of affairs. The leader of the party as at that time, in the person of then Governor Mimiko. The high handedness and the inpunity that happened then was what led to our defeat in that election”, Alabi explained.
However, on his plans to turn the tide in favor of PDP in October election, Alabi said, “I have the plan to re-engineer the party, to reposition the party, to bring people on board. It now seems that most people that are aborigines of PDP are being shut out of the party by one way and by one policy or the other. I desire that every door that has been shut against our people is re-opened so that people can troop- in”.
When asked of his next line of action if the election did not go his way, he said, “I am not too desperate to become the next chairman of PDP in Ondo State. If I win, you should embrace me. And if you win, I will embrace you. So, we know we are going to take over this state come October 2020”.
When asked if the scenario that played out in Kogi State will not be repeated in Ondo State, he replied,
“The kind of thing that happened in Kogi can never happen in Ondo State. We will not allow it. Ondo State is a peculiar state and repeating Kogi’s experience in Ondo will be difficult because of our peculiarity. Besides, the people have suffered enough in the last 4 years. The suffering has now reached the peak that people now know what they want”.
He also added that the people of Ondo State have experienced governance under the administration of PDP and APC and can clearly tell which is better. “At least, they have tested the weight of water and they have also tested the weight of oil and they now know which one is heavier. Ondo State people are yearning and I know they are waiting to receive us back in power and that is exactly what is happening now”.
The Akoko born engineer agreed that Nigerian politics has been monetized, but he made it clear that Ondo State PDP will not join the bandwagon of money politics. He said, “We are not going to do money politics of ‘edibo esebe’. We will not do that. These people do that to deceive the people and the people have been deceived once; I know they won’t want to get deceived another time”.
Meanwhile, Alabi has urged the people of Ondo State to repose the same confidence of faith in PDP, as he assured that the party will churn out better perform in governance. “PDP is fairing better. As at today, PDP is one in Ondo State. But talk of the incumbent APC government, there about 3 APC factions in Ondo State now. So, the coming election is not going to be a team party for them”, added Johnson Alabi.