The wife of Ondo State Governor, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu, said that she would be running for the Imo East Senatorial District election in 2023 to lead the leadership conversation on behalf of her people.
Akeredolu stated this during an interaction with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Imo Council, on Friday, in Owerri.
She said that her decision to run for the Senate, under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, stemmed from the neglect of the senatorial district by successive administrations and legislators.
According to her, the level of neglect has made the district remote and helpless, despite the rapid urbanisation of other parts of the state.
She decried the poor refuse disposal system in the area and the high number of preventable deaths, especially among women, occasioned by the lack of standard medical facilities in the senatorial district.
The governor’s wife, who noted that she had never lost touch with her biological birthplace in the last 40 years that she had gotten married, said that she was conversant with developments at home.
“I have a deep interest in human capital development and a deep-seated desire to improve the lives of my people from Imo. Leadership is not gender-specific,” she said.
She said that she had a greater chance to change the narrative in Imo East senatorial district as a daughter of Igbo, with Yoruba in-laws, to lobby for projects that would impact the lives of her people.
Akeredolu said, “I have demonstrated this ability to handle the position with the many development projects I had attracted to my community in the past.
“I have ensured that my development projects, as the wife of a sitting governor, are extended to my state of origin.
“I attracted the construction of a 10.5km road, worth N1.6 billion from Niger Delta Development Commission and it is currently under construction.
“I have also sponsored no fewer than 200 girls, with technological knowledge and a special focus on Information Communication Technology, among others,” she said.
Saying that there was a lack of direction, compassion, and understanding presently to improve the lives of the people in the constituency, she solicited support to represent the people.
She further expressed her readiness to align with her party’s decision if a consensus candidate for the senatorial district was approved.
Earlier, the Chairman of the chapel, Mr. Chris Njoku, said that the interaction had become imperative, following the various initiatives of the governor’s wife which, he said, had improved the lives of the people.
“We noticed your good work and we pledge to continue the collaboration with you to ensure that your good initiatives, which have begun to materialise, will be expanded, even more, for the overall good of our people,” Njoku said.