AC WILL SWEEP POLLS IN OGUN – HOUSE OF REPS ASPIRANT

With the internal squabbles tearing apart the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] in Ogun State, an aspirant for Abeokuta South federal constituency seat in the House of Representatives, on the platform of Action Congress [AC], Senior Apostle Segun Williams, has said that his party would sweep the polls in 2011 general elections.

The AC stalwart declared that the chances of AC to take over the reign of power at Oke Mosan was brighter now.

According to him, PDP in Ogun has disconnected with the people because the party leaders have placed personal interest far above public interest.

“A House divided against itself cannot stand is a popular saying and this is exactly the situation with the PDP in the state. People at the grassroots have now see reasons why there can be no oneness in the house of PDP because of selfishness, they now see an alternative in AC.

'Between the governor and the State House of Assembly, there is mistrust; there is no love between the governor and the Speaker of House of Representatives, who is the highest political office holder from the state; there is a fierce rat race among several political bigwigs within the party, who wanted to impose their children on others, all these are at the expense of the electorate.

'This is the feedback from our people working on the field, this is the feeler from the people we sent out to feel the pulse of the people and that people have now realised that only AC can meet their expectations and they are now preaching the gospel to those who have not heard about it, that there is hope for a better life in an AC government,' he stated.

Williams acknowledged that Abeokuta, his constituency, principally belongs to the PDP, but he submitted that the  party has since failed the people.

' That is why the people are clamouring for a change. The people want true representation because there is no true representation in Abeokuta federal constituency. When you have a representative you cannot talk to and when he comes home, he is being guarded all around by securitymen.

'Is that the kind of representative that the people want? We want to give people true representation, we want to identify with them, know their problems and look into ways to solve the problems.

' One other problem which I see is that, Abeokuta is a purely cosmopolitan area where you have all the attributes of urbanisation. There is rampant unemployment in Abeokuta, there are political thugs here and there.

' All these are issues we are going to address by God's grace. Because by the time we address a problem like that, the people would begin to feel a sense of belonging. The PDP itself has not only failed in solving this problems but it is contributing to it  by hiring thugs here and there, thus increasing the problems of urbanisation.

So, by the grace of God, we are going to address these issues and we are going to address them appropriately,' he promised.

Williams noted that he was going into partisan politics simply to serve his people at the national level.

'My people are complaining aloud that they are not well represented at the national level, they are saying that those representing them are far away from them and they want a change. This is one of the reasons they came to me to come and run for election into the House of Representatives.'

The utmost concern to him, he added, was to assuage their feelings of neglect and to a broad sense, serve humanity.

Going to the National Assembly as an elected representatives, Williams told Daily Sun, would be like returning to familiar terrain.

Having had a stint at National Assembly as a political aide, he said that he had seen the practicality of politics, the intrigues, the pains and gains, which he noted would equip him to give quality representation to his people.

'I had served in the National Assembly as a Political Assistant. I saw and participated in lobbying. I witnessed the intrigues, I saw the practical aspect of politicking and I hope to deploy my experience to serve my people in a higher capacity,'

' I want to serve my people as an elected officer, whereby, I can have a re-course to their wishes and aspirations if elected under the platform of AC where I believe I will do better having known the intrigues, the power-play, weaknesses and downfall of the practitioners for the past five years,' he noted.

With the promise of electoral  reforms by President Goodluck Jonathan and the commitment of the National Assembly to conclude the review of the Electoral Act, the aspirant said that the road to claim the ticket for the Abeokuta South Federal Constituency would be made easy.

'This is why I buy the idea of electoral reforms whole-heartedly. Without electoral reforms, we might not be able to have a credible election. You could see that the issue of electoral reforms centered on  INEC and the laws with which it operates.

'If INEC is sick and have no weapons to operate with, then what are we talking about?The reforms we are talking about is about INEC and the laws with which to operate and if there is sanity in the laws with which it operates, I think INEC could be  better organized and then politics itself would be a better business for the practitioners.“

Williams was not unmindful of the formidable presence of PDP gladiators in his constituency, but he believed that his people would go with AC, because PDP has since lost relevance in the state.

' You may want to ask, why are they in PDP and I will say because most of them are poverty stricken and they want to pitch their tent where they will get something to eat, but in their minds they are really AC, because AC has come to identify itself as a grassroots party, party of elected officers and a party that has a future. So the much talked about influence of the PDP in the state is just a ruse.

'My chances are very bright given the report we are getting from various quarters. My chances are not only bright, AC chances are bright. We are going to work and people are already feeling our impact. People are seeing what AC could do and what AC is doing in Lagos and in Edo State.

' Automatically, AC will replicate the same thing in Ogun State. So, as a party our chances are bright and speaking for myself,  Segun Williams, PDP would be dislodged in my constituency,' he  told Daily Sun.