The Oyo State Governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 11, 2023 governorship election, Engr. Seyi Makinde, has suspended his re-election campaign activities in the state until further notice.
On Friday, angry residents in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, trooped to major roads protesting over the hardship imposed on them by the new naira-notes and persistent fuel scarcity.
The protesters, in their hundreds, blocked the Iwo Road Interchange, frontage of the State Secretariat at Agodi and other major roads in the city.
At the state secretariat, the fierce looking youths forcefully opened the gate and moved into the complex, straight to the Governor’s office situated within the complex.
In a statement on Friday signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, Gov. Makinde said he could not be campaigning when the people are faced with undue hardship.
The statement partly reads, “I appreciate all the leaders and stakeholders who are ready for the campaign activities for today and I thank you for coming to meet us here today.
“But unfortunately, I will have no choice than to suspend our campaign. So, after this flag-off, I will return home, because there are protests in town and there is a lot of hardship with this issue of the scarcity of the new Naira notes.
“A lot of our people have money in banks but they are not able to get their money. Some of us campaigning are not able to access funds, maybe they do not want us to campaign.
“But I promised the people of Oyo State that I will continue to work for them till the last minute of the last day of my tenure. I am working for them and what this means is if there is hardship and people are protesting, I should not be on the campaign trail. I should go there and look after their interests.
“I have told the powers that be that if we don’t leave politics aside and face governance squarely, with the scarcity of Naira notes and the growing frustration, EndSARS will be a child’s play. I pray that the leaderships in this country will come together.
“I am also part of the leadership and I will take part of the blame on what is currently going on, because I am also occupying a very high position in the country today.”
The governor was due to campaign in Ido Local Government on Friday, while the campaign train was to move to Oluyole Local Government on Saturday.
Earlier, Governor Makinde had supervised the flagging off the 10 kilometres Omi Adio-Ido road in Ido Local Government Area of the state.
He noted that works on the road will continue, saying: “So, after the flag off, the contractors will continue their work. We don’t have cash also. We do transfer to the contractors executing our project so that they can continue to do our work.”
