AC'LL RESTORE LOST GLORY OF OGUN STATE –FORMER DEPUTY GOV

A former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Alhaji Rafiu Ogunleye, has said that the Action Congress' plan to regain the instrument of governance is to restore the lost glory of the state.

Ogunleye, who was the deputy governor of Chief Olusegun Osoba between 1991 and 1993, berated the government of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state for foistering the lack of basic amenities on the people.

He spoke at the inauguration of a 20-member AC Elders' Forum in Abeokuta on Wednesday.

Ogunleye emerged as the chairman of the body while a former presidential aspirant of the defunct Social Democratic Party, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, is a member.

According to him, the current government in the state has presided over deplorable roads, lack of access to electricity, lack of potable water supply and other basic necessities of life.

He said, 'Since we have left, you can see what the PDP has done in the state. The roads are bad all over the place. You can see the people here cannot get potable water. In most places, there is no electricity at all.

'I was in Ijebu-Ode General Hospital and what I saw was disheartening. So, what are we talking about? The people are suffering. AC remains the hope of the people that will restore the glory of the state.'

The state Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ola Bello, told party supporters at the occasion that the party was 'now rebranded, re-engineered and repositioned' towards the 2011 elections.

Bello said, 'In the last one month, we have gone round most parts of the state to assess, and at the same time, mobilise our members at the local government level. So, we shall move into wards and zones.'

Ogunleye described as mere propaganda the position of officials of the state PDP that the only party in the state was the ruling party.

He said, 'That the PDP is the only party in the state is propaganda; we have been there before. Where was the PDP then and with their reign, what has been the outcome? We are fully on the ground to win the state back.'

The former deputy governor and Bello, however, dismissed reports that the party's 2007 presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had planned to dump the AC for another party, saying the former vice-president, as a Nigerian, was free to join any party.

Ogunleye said, 'In England, you have the Conservative, you have the Labour and then the Liberal Party. You can belong to any of these parties. So, Atiku is free to join any other party. The party will not be affected in any form.'