— Some aspirants ‘ll step down for me

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

A leading governorship aspirant on the platform of All Progressive Congress in Ondo state, Wale Akinterinwa, has declared that he was sure of picking the party’s ticket in the primary election, scheduled for Saturday.

Akinterinwa said this at ile- Oluji while rounding off his campaign tour of local governments ahead of the primary election.

The former finance commissioner said that he has traversed the three senatorial districts and 18 local government areas of the state and was well received by party members.

According to him some aspirants are reaching out to him and would step down before the conduct of the party primary.

 “We were warmly received all across the state, both in the northern senatorial district, in the central district, and in the south.

READ ALSO: Ondo 2024: l’ll serve beyond expectations – Akinterinwa assures

“The people were enthusiastic, and one thing is obvious: you can see that they see us as the alternative, the change they desire for a living life good.”

 “I want to believe what I saw on their part was sincerity; they want a new person.

“They want somebody knowledgeable, somebody who has the capacity, somebody who has been around long enough, somebody whom they know and who they know has been in government, somebody they can fraternise with.

“I could see that the warmth that exuded from them was palpable; you could feel it.

” When we go out, we don’t take crowds from one local government to the other. So, our crowd is organic; it is within that environment. I believe the state is ready for us, and they want us.

“I expect that on Saturday, we will come out as the winners of the primaries, by the grace of God.

“I won’t be surprised if aspirants start stepping down for me. Some of them are reaching out to me.”

Speaking on the  committee to conduct the primary election, headed by the Kogi state governor Usman Ododo, Akinterinwa, said the Kogi State governor is a man of integrity who would conduct a free and credible election.

He said that “I believe he is a man of integrity, a man who has capacity. Obviously, for choosing him to come and conduct the election here, the party hierarchy must know that he is capable of doing a good job.

“I expect that we will have a level playing field and that we will have free and fair primaries, hitch-free, even though people are still a bit skeptical due to certain things.

Akinterinwa noted that ” all I know is that despite some of these obstacles, I’ll surmount them and come out victorious.