Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has been declared as the winner of African Governor Award for Innovative Leadership (AGFIL) 2019 by an international group for his efforts in reducing poverty in the state.

The organisation, African Stride International (Media) Limited, revealed that researches were carried out in several sectors in the state through its field officers and findings showed that the governor, among other governors under view, was innovative in his approach to solving various challenges he met when he assumed office in 2017.

Addressing newsmen in Akure, the Ondo State capital, head of the organisation, Henry Adesola, noted that Akeredolu’s ability to think out of box made it possible for him to pay backlog of salaries he inherited and still embarked on capital projects in the state.

According to him, “The coveted award is aimed at, among other things, supporting and promoting the swift attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.

“It’s aimed at generating and encouraging innovation and ideas aimed at rapidly developing the socio-economic potentials of the Africans, building infrastructure, empowering women and youths, providing qualitative and sound education thus evolving a modern African state and people.”