The People Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, has faulted the declaration of Ondo State governor’s wife, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, to contest for a Senate seat in Imo State.
The wife of the governor had last week officially joined the senatorial race for Imo East under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Reacting to the development, the PDP said, “Betty Akeredolu is desirous of joining the league of wives of former governors in the Nigerian Senate.”
The opposition party through its spokesman, Kennedy Ikantu Peretei, noted that the Ondo First Lady must remember that those former governors’ wives who contested Senatorial elections did so where their husbands held sway as governors of their respective states.
According to Peretei, “Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, wife of Ondo State Governor ranks amongst wives in the corridor of power who know exactly what to do with the enormous influence and lush funds available to their husbands.
“Mrs Akeredolu has also demonstrated that she is one rank ahead of her husband. She does not mince words by saying she is three years older than her husband, who is the Governor of Ondo State.
“In her address to journalists in Owerri, Mrs Akeredolu said, ‘I am vying for the Senate of Imo East to change the narrative about Owerri Zone. Yes, l am married to the Governor of Ondo State but that shouldn’t deprive me of the right to seek to represent Imo East, which is my maiden Senatorial District. I am proud to come from Emeabiam in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State. Our biggest challenges are roads and hospitals but l am happy that l have been able to attract a 10.5km of roads to Emeabiam at the cost of N16bn. I am grateful to the NDDC… l know my going to Senate will attract huge development for the people of Imo State.’
“Few questions immediately come to mind. Was Betty trying to brag about her status of being a Governor’s wife or trying to reconnect with her roots as being part of the Emeabiam community? Has she ever been involved in development activities or politics of Imo State before her husband became Governor? How many of such NDDC Projects has she influenced to Ondo State?
“In 2012, when Rotimi Akeredolu first contested governorship election in Ondo State, his biggest challenge was that he never registered as a voter in the State. It took some re-engineering from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to relocate himself and his wife, from where they registered in Oyo State, to Owo Local Government, where they now vote. If Betty is to contest elections in Imo State, this ritual has to be repeated if not perfected already.
“Betty’s Senatorial aspiration has been clinically conceptualized immediately after Akeredolu was sworn in as Governor. The first sign was that some of the Free School Shuttle buses bought by the Dr Olusegun Mimiko government for easy movement of school children were sighted in Owerri. Of the over 95 buses, not more than 20 are parked at the premises of the Ministry of Works at various levels of decay.
“The Ondo State government has not told the people the whereabouts of the remaining buses. If the government says it has no money to run the buses, one will expect to see the buses on the ground. The missing buses may have been used to oil the “back to my roots” project.
“Mrs Betty Akeredolu is desirous of joining the league of wives of former governors in the Nigerian Senate. The first was Senator Zainab Kure, wife of former Governor of Niger State, Engr. Abdulkadir Kure.
“Zainab was elected to represent Niger South Senatorial District in 2007 at the end of her husband’s second term as Governor. The other person is Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of APC leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a two-term Governor of Lagos State. Senator Remi was elected to represent Lagos Central Senatorial District in 2011. She was re-elected in 2015 and 2019.
“While l wish Ada Owere the very best of luck in the 2023 Senatorial election, she must remember that those former governors’ wives who contested Senatorial elections did so, where their husbands reigned as governors.
“Akeredolu will be unable to do anything in the Imo contest apart from squandering our lean resources to service some politicians in Imo State who will never tell Ada Owere the truth. There are speculations that Betty was encouraged to contest by Ebere Obiano who intends to contest Senatorial election in Anambra State.”
Credit: Leadership