Former aide to ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Segun Showunmi, has said nobody has enough resources to buy him off the ballot in the 2023 governorship election in Ogun State.
Showunmi, who has been claiming to be the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, dispelled rumours that he was being sponsored by certain interests to scuttle the chances of the party.
According to him, the primary election that produced Hon. Ladi Adebutu, who is being recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the candidate of the PDP in Ogun, was illegal.
Showunmi said the primary he held at the NUJ Secretariat, Abeokuta followed all the rules and due process.
Responding to claim that he was being paid to cause crisis in the PDP during his pre-campaign interaction with newsmen in Abeokuta, Showunmi said, contrary to reports that he was being paid by some political leaders to cause crisis in the state chapter of the PDP, his ambition was built on improving the socio-economic condition of the State with what he described as the “new deal” for Ogun people.
“I feel irritated when people say this. Why do you think somebody has to pay me? Nobody has enough resources to buy me off. Friends, family and associates are passionate about Ogun State and about my ambition. Between us, we will fund this campaign adequately,” he stated.
The Egba chief described it as irritating and insulting for anyone to insinuate that he lacked the capacity to run a good campaign, whether in terms of resources or not.
He insisted that he remained the only experienced and qualified candidate to administer the affairs of the state at this time.
“I’m not building my castles in the air; I’m not playing, they know it, I know it. I have the ability within me, my family and my very close associates to fund this campaign embarrassingly, lavishly. They should stop bragging about money.
“We are going to run a very intelligent campaign; a campaign that is issue-based, a campaign that puts the candidate before you to answer questions on why, on how and on when.
“I’m running on a New Deal – Sincerely Set principle. I have looked at the governance space in Nigeria and in Ogun State, in particular, and I’m convinced that we cannot keep doing things the way we have been doing them and expect an outcome that is different from the ones that we have been having,” he added.