Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Wednesday was literally shut down for more than three hours as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) staged a freedom walk for the party’s presidential candidate and his running mate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Ifeanyi Okowa.

The freedom walk which took off from Total Garden, had eminent personalities within the party attendance, including a former minister of special duties, Elder Wole Oyelese; former minister of state for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Jumoke Akinjide; former Chairman of Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Jide Adeniji, who is the Director of Special Duties, South for Atiku/Okowa 2023; former deputy governor of Oyo State, Hazeem Gbolarunm, who is the Coordinator of Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign in the state; and a chieftain of the party, Femi Babalola.

The participants in the freedom walk, after taking off from Total Garden, went through Agodi Gate, Oke-Ado Junction, Ali-Iwo, Irefin, Oje, Labiran Junction, and Beere, before the walk ended in front of the popular Mapo Hall, where some leaders of PDP took turns in addressing the gathering.

Traffic snarl was noticed on the major road that the participants passed through, as well as some adjourning streets. At the commencement of the rally, Femi Babalola told the participants that adequate arrangements were made for security and medical services. Security agencies were fully in attendance and there was no security breach throughout the freedom walk.

But Governor Seyi Makinde, who is seeking re-election for a second term in office on the PDP platform, was conspicuously absent from the rally. Also, the deputy governor of the state, Bayo Lawal, as well as all elected and appointed political office holders in the current PDP administration in the state did not also show up at the rally.

Daily Sun reports that at the time the freedom rally was ongoing, Governor Makinde was at the Presidential Lodge of the Government House, Ibadan, holding a meeting with all the 2023 candidates for various political offices on the PDP platform, as well as the Mr Dayo Ogungbenro-led PDP state executive in the state. The list also included all his commissioners and aides.

The freedom walk and the meeting that Makinde held with serving political office holders, were held separately at the same time less than 24 hours before the official flag-off of the re-election bid of Governor Makinde, which is scheduled to hold at the Mapo Hall Arcade, Ibadan tomorrow (Thursday).

The G-5 Governors in PDP, comprising Makinde, and his counterparts in Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; Benue State, Samuel Ortom; Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu; and Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, are also expected to grace Makinde’s campaign flag-off in Ibadan tomorrow.

Speaking at Mapo Hall during the walk, the Director of Special Duties, South for Atiku/Okowa 2023, Jide Adeniji, urged Yoruba to vote for Atiku because he has the capacity to fix the socio-economic and political challenges besetting the progress of the nation. He added that Atiku married a Yoruba woman as his first wife and his first four children were born by the Yoruba woman, Alhaji Titi Abubakar.

He also stated that Atiku would restructure and unite Nigeria, end religious intolerance, and eradicate nepotism, adding that Atiku headed the National Economic Council when he was the country’s vice president between 1999 and 2007. He explained that Atiku knows what to do to fix economic challenges in the country. He also said Atiku would fix rots in the educational sector.

Former Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide, also urged Nigerians, especially the good people of Ibadan and Oyo State, to support Atiku, promising that he would fix the electricity and water problem in Nigeria. She also appealed to voters to vote for all PDP candidates from top to bottom.

Former Minister of Special Duties Elder Wole Oyelese, “Nigeria is experiencing a harrowing socio-economic situation and does not need an apprentice president. Atiku Abubakar is a detribalised pan-Nigerian, a bridge builder with longstanding friends and associates in every nook and cranny of Nigeria who is acceptable to all ethnic groups and religious bodies in Nigeria. He has the best ideas on how to rescue Nigeria from the years of ruin and damage caused.”

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