*OGUN PDP WISHES NIGERIANS AND OGUN STATE CITIZENS A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2018*

As a new year beckons, the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State under my leadership is using this medium to congratulate Nigerians and the good people of Ogun state, that the Almighty God deemed it fit to spare our lives to see the end of 2017 and for giving us the unmerited privilege to witness a New Year; despite our individual and collective challenges.

No doubt, the outgone year was very turbulent for Nigerians and Ogun state in particular; considering the plethora of self-inflicted socioeconomic and security challenges the people had to contend with. The nation is still writhing from the suffocating sting of economic recession, a situation that has seen hitherto average Nigerians drop into the poverty zone. The festering menace of terrorism and kidnappings have put the people in palpable fear of their lives; while our corporate unity continues to be threatened.

Important NBS statistics around unemployment, inflation, GDP growth rate, human capital development and infrastructure – indicated a sharp decline of the Nigerian State. That we even ended the year with excruciating fuel queues and attendant social disruptions – is a sad report card of the APC national government, led by the faltering and increasingly incapable President Muhammadu Buhari.

For us in Ogun state, the situation is even more pathetic. Beyond the daily erosion of people's livelihood on the pretext of a cosmetic urban renewal, bad economic policies, financial mismanagement, executive recklessness, misprioritization of projects and blatant acts of corruption by the Sen. Ibikunle Amosun APC administration, have combined to put the state on reverse.

Today, Ogun is littered with failed projects, education and health sectors are in shambles, major roads into our hitherto boisterous industrial corridors are now impassable, forcing businesses to relocate, while the socioeconomic life of citizens have been grossly diminished.
Despite the gory picture, we still have to thank God and be optimistic of a better deal in the new year. Despite our challenges, the PDP is a reference party and synonymous with making life more comfortable for the people and spreading the dividends of democracy.

The year 2018 is the time for the people to weigh their choices ahead of the 2019 elections. While I urge citizens to brace up in their individual endeavours, we must collectively rise up to demand better governance from the buccaneers currently in power; while we bid time to send them out of office in 2019.

For us as a political party, we are reformed, reinvigorated and now attuned to the needs and desires of our people – being social welfare, economic progress and good governance. One again, I wish all Nigerians and the People of Ogun state a happy and most prosperous New Year.

[Singed]

*Engr Adebayo Dayo*
_State Chairman_