Yayi pledges new towns agency, wealth creation ministry in Ogun 2027 bid
- APC governorship candidate Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, known as Yayi, made the promises at a meeting with Remo Collectives in Sagamu.
- He said a New Towns Development Authority and a Ministry of Wealth Creation would form part of his nine-pillar ITESIWAJU agenda.
- The Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, asked him to focus on creating local development areas for Remo rather than state creation.
Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election, has promised to set up a New Towns Development Authority and a Ministry of Wealth Creation if he wins.
Adeola, who represents Ogun West Senatorial District and is widely known as Yayi, made the pledges at an interactive session with Remo Collectives, a socio-cultural group of Remo indigenes, in Sagamu over the weekend.
He said the new agency would build new towns with modern infrastructure, while older towns and communities would be preserved as historical legacies.
The proposed Ministry of Wealth Creation, he said, would carry on his empowerment work by training youths and women in skills and supporting them to earn a living. Both plans fall under his nine-pillar ITESIWAJU agenda.
He also promised to revive the Ogun State Road Maintenance Agency, the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency and the Ogun State Waste Management Agency.
Health and roads in Remoland
Asked to improve the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu, Adeola said he would work with Governor Dapo Abiodun to upgrade the hospital before December. He described inclusive healthcare as a key part of his agenda.
He said he is facilitating a four-storey, fully equipped hospital building at Remo General Hospital, now at roofing level and due for completion in December, and that 14 similar projects are ongoing across the state.
Adeola said he has attracted more than 36 infrastructure projects to Remoland, covering roads, education, solar street lights, rural electrification, modern markets, an ICT centre and primary health care centres.
He praised President Bola Tinubu's reforms, saying international bodies have acknowledged the results and that JP Morgan is set to open in Nigeria. He said the benefits of the reforms would reach ordinary people soon.
He also commended Governor Abiodun for projects he said had laid a strong economic base, including the International Cargo Airport, dry inland ports in Ijebu and Egba, and a coming $7 billion deep seaport. That base, he said, puts Ogun in a position to compete with Lagos State in revenue generation.
What the Akarigbo asked for
The Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, urged the candidate to stay away from the state creation debate and instead push for new local government areas or Local Development Areas for Remo. He suggested Sagamu could be split into three or four LGAs.
The monarch commended Adeola for attracting development to Remoland, including the road leading to his palace.
The President of Remo Collectives, Akintayo Rabiu, who was represented by his vice president, Olumide Onimole, said the group invited the senator to hear his plans for Ogun State and for Remoland in particular.
Other dignitaries at the event included Oba Adewale Oshiberu, the Elepe of Epe; Otunba Kola Oyefeso; Gboyega Nosiru Isiaka, APC House of Representatives candidate for Imeko Afon/Yewa North Federal Constituency; Laolu Olabimtan, the Ogun State Commissioner for Budget and Planning; Yemi Adelani, the state APC organising secretary; Deji Ashiru, Managing Director of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority; and Daisi Akintan, a former chairman of Sagamu Local Government.
The 2027 governorship election is still more than a year away, and the promises made at the session are campaign pledges. Voters in Ogun will decide at the polls.
