A senator from Ondo State, Prof Ajayi Boroffice has blamed the division in the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the poor performance of the party in the Saturday’s presidential and National assembly elections in the state.
This is just as he said he was not aware Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu worked for the Action Alliance, AA, against his reelection.
Results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, showed that the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar polled a total of 276,201 votes beating President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC to second place in ondo state with 241,776 votes.
Boroffice was reelected in the elections on the APC platform to represent Ondo North Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the Senate.
Candidates of the leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, of Ondo Central District, and Otunba Nicholas Tofowomo, Ondo South, cleared the two other seats after defeating the incumbent APC senators, Chief Tayo Alasoadura and Pastor Yele Omogunwa, in their districts.
Boroffice, who was reelected for his third term in the Senate, told reporters at the Akure Airport that APC structure in the state was not working effectively, noting that the party was divided into the authentic APC and the Action Alliance (AA).
Boroffice beat the Chairman of the Governing Council of Ondo State University, Akungba Akoko, Dr Tunji Abayomi of AA, who was allegedly backed by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in the Saturday’s polls.
Categorically, he said that the alleged anti-party activities of some individuals in the state chapter of the APC caused the defeat of President Buhari in the state.
The chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology said that the state secretariat of the party never made attempts to unite the party, adding: ”we have a dysfunctional party structure.”
He said: ”Several factors are responsible. The first is that we have a dysfunctional party structure which I know is faulty; which never makes attempt to unite the party or make the part active. There was no time the state excos met and even at the local government level. We have a dysfunctional party structure.
“Also, we have bi-polar party in the sense that one is Action Alliance (AA) and the other side is Authentic APC. It is like a house divided against itself.
Boroffice said, “I have mixed feelings, in the sense that we lost this state to PDP and we are APC state, it is very unfortunate. But the good side of it is that I won my election and the three House of Representatives in my District also won. In my senatorial District, Buhari won and that is the good thinC.
“I don’t like the fact that we lost two senators in Ondo central and Ondo South. I feel bad about it”.
On mending fence with Governor Akeredolu and why the Governor allegedly worked against his reelection, the Senator said, “I have no problem with the Governor. I am yet to find out if he did not support me. He did not stop me from campaigning. I am learning from you for the first time that he didn’t support me and that I lost in his polling units or his ward.
He said, “that really affected the performance of the party in the state. Those are the main reasons for the poor performance of our party in the election.”
Boroffice explained that he was able to defeat his opponents at the poll as a result of his commitment to the welfare of people in the District, noting that his developmental projects have impacted more lives in the area.
“The fact is that the people are behind me. I am a second time senator. Those of you who believe in investigative journalism will go to Ondo North and see the projects I have done there.
“About five federal government projects are now in Ondo North apart from my constituency projects. My people know me, they know I have committed to their welfare and the district and they decided to give me their votes despite all odds,” he said.
On deplorable condition of roads in his Ondo North District, Boroffice said, “those of you who understand the politics and the way the executive functions, you will know that we just regulate in a way by appropriating the budget. The budget normally originates from the Senate and because of the issue of padding, we are being careful about what we do.
“However, we can before the budget is out ,we can discuss with various MDAs about how they can influence projects in our constituencies. We have done well in that regard and we have been able to bring the officials of the Ministry of Works to Ondo State, and they have submitted their reports. We hope that in the next assembly, I will be in a position to win influence on the MDAs and attract projects to Ondo North”.
While commending the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC for being fair to all parties at the poll, he praised the combined efforts of security agents in ensuring that ad hoc staff and voters were not intimidated during the Saturday’s elections.
“I think INEC did very well but we must also give thanks to the security agencies; the military, the police, the civil defence; they all did very well. They were able to assure everybody that there is going to be fair play and they did not give room for anybody to intimidate another person,” Boroffice said.
Radio Nigeria
