By Steve Otaloro
A wave of speculative reports and calculated inquiries has been circulating in recent days, alleging that Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa has withdrawn his support from the All Progressives Congress candidate for the Ondo South Senatorial District and is instead throwing his weight behind the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for the same seat.
Let it be stated with absolute and unassailable clarity: there is not a scintilla of truth in this insidious claim. Governor Aiyedatiwa has neither abandoned the APC candidate nor extended the slightest endorsement to any opposition contender.
The Governor stands as a steadfast pillar and distinguished leader of the APC in Ondo State. His loyalty to the progressive political family is not of recent vintage; it is a time-tested commitment that stretches back to the formative days of the Alliance for Democracy and the Action Congress of Nigeria- movements that eventually crystallised into the All Progressives Congress. To suggest that a man who has spent decades nurturing this political heritage would now turn his back on it is not merely improbable; it is an affront to reason itself.
It is, therefore, utterly inconceivable that the Governor who currently captains the APC ship in Ondo State would deliberately pitch his tent against a candidate of his own party in favour of one flying the flag of a rival platform. One does not labour assiduously to erect an enduring edifice only to set the torch to its foundations. Building a formidable legacy for the APC in Ondo State and then seeking to dismantle it is the very last thing Lucky Aiyedatiwa would ever contemplate, let alone execute.
The Governor has never authorised any individual to speak in his name in support of an opposition candidate. Any claim to the contrary is false, mischievous, and transparently politically motivated. Those who find themselves unsettled by the Governor’s unrelenting determination to consolidate a robust, disciplined, and electoral juggernaut for the APC in Ondo State are the very architects of this rumour, allowing it to gain undeserved traction in the public space.
For the avoidance of every residual doubt, Governor Aiyedatiwa remains unwaveringly committed to the APC and all its candidates. His political fidelity and his solemn responsibility as the leader of the party in the state render any act of sabotage not only unthinkable but wholly incompatible with the principles he has long embodied. It is equally instructive that the APC candidate himself has publicly dismissed reports of any rift, affirming that the Governor both facilitated his emergence as the party’s standard-bearer and continues to stand as his benefactor and the undisputed leader of the APC in Ondo State.
The people of Ondo State, members of the progressive family, and the wider public are therefore urged to treat this rumour with the contempt it deserves. It is nothing more than a desperate attempt by political adversaries to sow division between the Governor and the APC’s senatorial candidate.
Governor Aiyedatiwa remains an APC leader of unimpeachable stature, a loyalist of the first order, and a steadfast supporter of every candidate fielded by the party he leads. His commitment to the growth and electoral dominance of the APC in Ondo State is matched only by his unrelenting resolve to deliver one million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in next year’s election. He will not-now or ever-lend his support to any candidate arrayed against the party whose banner he so proudly carries and leads in Ondo State.
