Oyo State governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2019 election, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, has said Governor Seyi Makinde is yet to fulfil any of the promises he made to him as contained in the gentleman’s agreement reached between the duo.
Lanlehin, in a statement entitled Makinde Yet to Fulfill Promises, personally signed by him and made available to newsmen in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday, clarified that he did not request nor was he given any financial compensation for surrendering his mandate to support Makinde to upstage the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
He said rather than request anything from Makinde for withdrawing for him, he further committed his own resources to the prosecution of the governorship election won by Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former Oyo South Senator said the inability of Makinde to honour the terms of their agreement might have been occasioned by “the very busy and demanding schedule of his state duties.”
Contrary to insinuation he might be planning to dump his party, Lanlehin said he “remains a committed member of ADC whose members worked assiduously and tirelessly in installing the Makinde government and expect participation in same as agreed before the said gubernatorial election.
“Candidate Seyi Makinde (as he then was) made some promises to me as the incumbent candidate of my party ADC. I willingly and absolutely agreed to surrender my gubernatorial mandate in the common interest of the people of Oyo State.
“I did not request and was not given any financial compensation for so surrendering the mandate, but committed further resources to the gubernatorial election.
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“Up till date, Governor Makinde has not fulfilled any of the terms of the agreement reached between him and myself. I believe Makinde has not been able to fulfil the terms of the gentleman’s agreement between us (myself and himself) due to the very busy and demanding schedule of his state duties,” the statement said.
Lanlehin explained that he withdrew for Makinde to prevent a recurrence of the 2015 experience when all opposition parties could not pick one among them to sack the APC from office, leading to the emergence of Governor Abiola Ajimobi for a second term with just 32 per cent of the total votes cast.
He said he believed “very firmly that the Governor Makinde will fulfil the said terms as soon as he so decides,” wishing him “a resounding success in the performance of the onerous duties which Providence has placed on his shoulders.”
