Akeredolu, speaking to journalists after his victory at the APC primary at The Dome International Event Centre, Alagbaka Akure on July 21, 2020
By Banji Ayoola
Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has canvassed peace, unity and forgiveness among leaders and members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State following his victory at the just concluded governorship primary of the party in the state.
With this, he has thus emerged the APC candidate in the October 10 governorship election.
The governor who spoke after he was declared winner of the exercise early this morning at The Dome, venue of the primary in Akure the state capital, promised to embark immediately on peace and reconciliation drive statewide to heal all perceived wounds and forge unity in an effort to build a stronger future for the party.
His words: “As a way of engendering unity of purpose and cohesion among all party men and women, in a matter of hours, I shall commence, in an inexorable manner, a process of reconciliation to heal all perceived wounds. We need one another more in the future than now.
Akeredolu said: “Most profoundly, I salute the courage of my brother aspirants. They have enriched the contest, no doubt. I must say that I am particularly enamoured by the determination and the industry we all put into this endeavour.
“All the same, the campaigns preceding this day have been noticeably fraught with mixed feelings. Relationships in some cases may have been bruised and interests hurt. In other cases, methods deployed to run these campaigns may not have been pleasant.
“I plead with all of us to leave these in the past and move on. This is more so that, all aspirants, including myself were either victims or indirectly responsible for such unpleasant circumstances. We must find spaces in our hearts to forgive one another.”
“I am convinced that our individual pursuits were driven by the altruistic motivation to strengthen our great party and more importantly, take our dear State to loftier heights.”
He described the election as an evidence of “the strong will, dedication, perseverance as well as the palpable resolve of all-party men and women at this very event present a historic moment to behold.”
He said: “May I use this opportunity to express sincere appreciation to my brother Governor, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and his team for this wonderful outing. You have displayed a high sense of professionalism and an immeasurable degree of competence.”
The governor assured: “I can assure you all, Ondo State is an APC State, together, we shall deliver come October 10,” as he expressed gratitude to the national leadership of the party and delegates.
According to the result of the primary, Akeredolu defeated seven other aspirants, winning in all the state’s 18 local government areas with 2,458 votes. His closest rival, Olusola Oke, came second with 262 votes while lsaac Kekemeke came a distant third with 19 votes.
The result showed that other aspirants including Mr Olayide Adelami, Mrs JJumoke Anifowose, Ambassador Sola Iji, Mr Awodeyi Akinsehinwa and Mr Bukola Adetula scored between zero and nine votes.
Few hours to the primary, four other aspirants including Engineer lfe Oyedele, Dr Olusegun Abraham, Mr Jimi Odimayo and Mr Nathaniel Adojutelegan had withdrawn from the race for Akeredolu.
