The gubernatorial candidate of the Zenith Labour Party in Oyo state, Sharafadeen Alli has called on other candidates to be truthful on the promises being made to hoodwink the electorate ahead of the forthcoming elections.
Alli, a former Secretary to the State Government, who spoke at the palace of the Eleruwa of Eruwa on Thursday as part of the party’s campaign tour of the state, said “a contestant in another party was saying he would offset the the debts of pensioners immediately he is sworn- in, this is a fallacy, ask him how he will do it, the debt under Governor Abiola Ajimobi is about N40billion and the total monthly revenue of the state is about N10 billion.
“If anyone boasts of what they intend to do, let’s ask them, how will they? In our own case, we have done it once under our able leader, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, 30 children per class; prompt payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities; good road constructions and many more, and this is what we want to continue.
“Thank God, our leader has said it often and often that I played a major role in the success story and this has equally been buttressed by a co-contestant, Chief Adebayo Alao Akala, Kabiyesi, you can be rest assured that I will hit the ground running,” Alli concluded.
Rather than building castles in the air and promising ‘unachievable mouthwatering projects and programmes’, Alli said ‘God is watching all and we must be mindful of what becomes of our promises during and after leaving office.
He, therefore, promised that if voted to power in the coming general elections, he would always confer with traditional rulers so as to make communities a focus of ZLP administration’s developmental projects.
Alli, who was in company of a former governor of the state and leader of the party, Rashidi Ladoja said, communities will be involved in maintaining adequate security as workshops and seminars will be regularly organized for the youths in various communities.
This, he said, will make them relevant in the scheme of things, saying ‘with this, we shall reduce crime rates in the state.
He told the traditional rulers that he was ready to fix the roads so that farmers will have easy access to where they will market their farm products.
Alli reiterated his commitment to make the welfare of workers his priority by paying their salaries on the 25th day of every month just as he stressed that pensioners, especially those in the primary schools will start receiving their pensions from their last school of employment.
“All we need to do,” emphasised Alli, “is to have a special assistant who will regularly liase between the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board,SUBEB and the local governments for effective monitoring,” he added.
