The lawmaker representing Ondo Central Senatorial District, Chief Tayo Alasoadura has boasted that he would beat the immediate past governor of the state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko in the coming senatorial election.
Mimiko is contesting the seat under the platform of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) while Alasoadura, the incumbent Senator is of the APC.
At a media parley in Akure, the state capital on Saturday, the lawmaker who is the chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum resources(Upstream) said” I am a strong grassroots politician who had visibly impacted on my constituents. I am working hard and confident of overwhelming Mimiko and other candidates.
Alasoadura said” Mimiko has never won real election in the state, the one he won on February 23,2009 from Benin after 22 months in the tribunal was a mandate from the court as against the one given by the people to late governor Olusegun Agagu on April 14,2007 which was reversed
“The second election he won in 2012 was through the power of incumbency both from Abuja and in Ondo state.
The lawmaker who listed several achievements he had recorded in the last four years said his reelection would give him more opportunity to provide for his constituents as a ranking senator.
According to him, “I am a core progressive, I only defected to PDP because Yoruba race was totally marginalized then we were short-changed, I joined PDP at that early stage with Agagu and there was monumental progress all around during that era.
“After six years in the PDP, I retraced my step and returned to my political root as member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and in 2014, I decided to go to the Senate and fortunately I won.
Alasoadura said he had sponsored three bills and many motions especially that of the upgrading of Adeyemi College, Ondo to University of Education status.
He disclosed that a sum of N2b was approved for the take-off of the institution in the 2018 budget.
The former Commissioner for Finance and Chairman, Forum of Finance Commissioners in Nigeria, said he had secured employment for many graduates in the military, police and Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS) while many people-oriented projects were delivered in many communities within Ondo Central District.
Alasoadura added that it was through his letter to the presidency that the rail line going through Ore-Benin will now be extended to Ondo-Akure-Owo-Benin route.
On agitation for restructuring of the country, the senatorial candidate said he would only subscribe to any system that would encourage devolution of power, where local government would be autonomous and excessive power at the centre decentralized.
He urged the people to support Buhari and other APC candidates in order to be victorious at the polls next Saturday.
The lawmaker lamented that Agagu his visible achievements had to leave office unceremoniously, because of the defects in the nation’s judicial system.
