Adebayo Alao-Akala has said that God, along with his family and stakeholder, asked him to re-contest for the state’s 2019 governorship election.
He said this on Wednesday while receiving members of the Akala Support Group in his residence in the Bodija area of Ibadan, the state capital.
“Patriotic people of Oyo State, for quite some time now, I have been inundated by telephone calls and text messages from well-meaning citizens and subjected to intense pressure.
”I have been receiving these messages from Destiny Group, corporate bodies, political associates and friends alike to stage a comeback to the governorship seat in the state.
“Having communed with my creator, the Almighty God, my immediate family and due consultations with critical stakeholders, I do solemnly offer myself to contest for the governorship seat in 2019. So help me God,” he said.
Alao-Akala said he was contesting with a view to consolidating on and surpassing the achievements recorded so far by Gov. Abiola Ajimobi.
He claimed that he endeavoured “ to put smiles on the faces of people within available resources’’ when he was governor between 2007 and 2011.
Alao-Akala commended the efforts of Ajimobi who had been governing the state in the last seven years.
Earlier, Dr Fola Akinosun, the Chairman of Akala Support Group, had described Alao-Akala as the most qualified and experienced among all those who had declared interest in the governorship race.
Akinosun, who is a member of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, said this was not the time to experiment in the choice of leadership.
Mr Olu Abiala, a former NLC Chairman in the state, also said the visit was to appeal to Alao-Akala to listen to the call by no fewer than 5,000 members of the group to contest.
NAN reports that among those present at the forum were human rights activists, labour leaders, traders as well as representatives of youth and women groups.