By Banji Ayoola
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ondo State on Sunday debunked speculations that the state’s Deputy Governor, Hon Agboola Ajayi plans to decamp to the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, to contest the coming October 10 governorship election on that party’s platform.
The Radiance had reported exclusively on Tuesday last week that Ajayi and the state’s immediate past Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, who is the ZLP’s leader, were finalising arrangements for the Deputy Governor to move over and pick that party’s ticket to face his boss, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, who is seeking reelection as candidate of the All Progressives Congress; APC, PDP’s flagbearer, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, and other 14 candidates at the election.
The story has since gone viral.
Ajayi had left the ruling APC and rejoined the PDP, his original party, for the party’s ticket. But he lost the party’s primary election to Jegede who scored 888 votes to emerge PDP candidate. following his defeat, Ajayi, as gathered authoritatively last week by The Radiance, embarked on the ZLP’s trip
But the PDP in a statement on August 2 by its state Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Zadok Akintoye, which was titled “Re: Agboola Ajayi joins ZLP”, said: “We take note of the information being promoted and spread across social media platforms that HE. Barr. Agboola Ajayi, the incumbent Deputy Governor and Member of the PDP has concluded plans to join the Zenith Labour Party.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Agboola Ajayi remains a valuable and respected member of the PDP and has not informed the party of his intention to leave and remains a committed member of the party.
“Please note that clarification on the allegation has been sought from the Deputy Governor and assurances given to the leadership of the party of his intention to stay in the PDP.
“We therefore implore all members of the party and the general public to disregard the information as H.E. has assured the party leaders and elders (on his honor) of not leaving.
“Our efforts at winning the next election remain ongoing and we are committed to removing the incumbent governor through a free and fair election.”
Following is the story “Ajayi Set To Contest Against Akeredolu On Mimiko Party’s Platform”, which this newspaper reported exclusively last week Tuesday July 28:
The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Hon Agboola Ajayi would fly the flag of the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, in the October 10 governorship election, The Radiance has gathered authoritatively.
In fact, arrangements are being finalised for him to decamp from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, being led by the immediate past governor of the state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko.
Sources within both politicians’ camps at separate interviews, confirmed that both Ajayi and Mimiko are making necessary consultations and perfecting their strategies on how to win the election.
Ajayi, it was learnt exclusively, would officially make his position known before next week.
The Deputy Governor had decamped from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and returned to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, hoping to pick that party’s ticket and contest the coming election against his boss, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN. But he came second in the PDP primary last week, losing to Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.
One of the sources told The Radiance that: “The truth of the matter is that Akeredolu must be flushed out. Both Mimiko and Ajayi are outside the state now perfecting their strategies, consulting relevant stakeholders with the plan to contest on the platform of ZLP.
“Within the next few days, the Deputy Governor would make his mind known to the people of Ondo State.
“Obviously, the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) did not treat him well. They have not extended hands of fellowship to him. The PDP picked a good candidate from a wrong zone. Now the people of the South where the deputy governor comes from can no longer wait. They have to produce the next governor of Ondo State.”
On Ajayi’s disagreements with his boss which underscored his insistence on wresting power from him, the source said: “One of these is the familitocracy. Father, mother, children and in laws are the people ruling Ondo State.
“There is the increase in school fees for undergraduates, forcing many students to drop out of the state owned universities and polytechnic.
“On Health, the Akeredolu government has hiked the fees being paid at the Mother and Child Hospitals. They have introduced fees for services which were free. They have commercialized the Health sector.”
Also, another source within Mimiko’s camp said that it would be “selling a bad product” to the people and amount to political suicide for Mimiko to support Akeredolu’s reelection.
These, he said, are on the ground that the governor allegedly abandoned his predecessor, and his political base in Ondo West and Ondo East Local Governments. Besides, Akeredolu allegedly rubbishes Mimiko’s legacy.
Ho told The Radiance that a lot of things are in the offing, alleging that the Akeredolu led APC administration abandoned Ondo City, the former governor’s home town, where he alleged that the current administration has built not a single kilometre of road.
Querying: “How would Mimiko campaign for him,” the source said: “That would be selling a bad product to the people. It is not proper for him to work for Aketi (Akeredolu).”
His words: “You know what Mimiko did. Owo road, where Aketi comes from, was the first road Mimiko dualised among the others he dualised in the state. Besides, he built the Ehinogbe and Alakata markets in Owo.
“He built five Accidents Rescue Stations in the state and sited one in Owo. The free school shuttle started in Owo. He gave them a considerable number of buses. These are facts. You can imagine the enormous things Mimiko did in Owo. Let them come to Ondo. There is nothing Aketi has done in Ondo.
“How is Mimiko going to sell such a candidate to his people and this would not backfire on him. Aketi has not been yielding to Mimiko. Anything he asked him, he turned down.
“Although he succeeded former Governor Olusegun Agagu on an acrimonious note, Mimiko paid all the outstanding salaries of Agagu’s aides. But Akeredolu has paid only two of the seven months outstanding salaries of Mimiko’s aides. There are other outstanding allowances. How could Mimiko ask his followers to support Aketi.
“He is rubbishing Mimiko’s legacy, killing them. He has abandoned the five Accident Rescue stations at Ore, BOlorunduro, Ilara mokin, Ore, Epinmi Akoko and Owo; and Mimiko government spent multi million naira to build them.
“He bought brand new modern ambulances and other facilities such that when accident happened, there would be a rescue within minutes. These saved so many lives within the three years of their operation. They are now abandoned. The machines, ambulances and other facilities are rotting away. Their staffs have been sacked.
“The Mother and Child Hospitals where people were receiving free medical services, where over 60,000 babies were delivered in seven years free of charge including those who went through complications, today are forgone. People now pay exorbitant prices, higher than even in private hospitals which are not as good as the Mother and Child Hospitals.
“Then there was the Mare Festival in Idanre. Mimiko’s intention was to ensure that Idanre Hill got the attention of the world when he instituted the Mare Festival. Every December, the world attention used to be on Idanre which then was a beehive of activity. UNDP recognised it as one of Nigeria’s seven most prominent attraction centres. Immediately Aketi came, he stopped it and abandonedthe people of Idanre.
“The health institutions in Ondo State, our pride which earned us the attention of the World Health Organisation, are in shambles. Mimiko built over 500 Basic Health Centres across the state and these have improved the people’s health. They wanted to sell them until we cried out. Most of them are now abandoned except few ones like that in Arakale.
“Mimiko is a visionary leader. This COVID-19 affliction, Mimiko is the only governor in Nigeria, who, immediately after Ebola, established the Infectious Diseases Centre at Igbatoro Road in Akure. He is futuristic and visionary such that Aketi had no problem in having the isolation centre at Igbatoro. I give credit to Aketi that he expanded it and makes good use of it.
“In the area of Education, Aketi has undermined a lot. It is very clear that in Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, for the eight years of the Mimiko administration, tuition fee remained N25,000; and there was infrastructural development. Aketi increased this fee by about 500 percent to N150,000.
“He undermined the poverty riddled society we live in. A lot of parents could not afford this; so many students had to drop out. We have facts. Aketi hasn’t added a block to the facilities of the university. He collapsed the mega schools. By now, we should be having10 mega schools per local government.
“They should have been allowed to develop such that every child would now be attending a mega school. He abandoned them. The state polytechnic Owo is not being funded. Mimiko developed it. We never had it this bad.
“On sports, there was a time that Sunshine Stars was the best club in Nigeria. In the national festival, we came first. Nothing is happening now. On markets, Aketi increased the money paid by market women; the markets he did not build. He is impoverishing our people.
“But commendably, he is doing well on roads, dualising in Akure and Owo. He has completed Oke Alabojuto which Mimiko started. Beyond that, he abandoned some places.
“In Ondo West and Ondo East local governments, there is no single kilometre of road done by Aketi. I can go on and on. I am not a fan of Aketi’s style of government.”
But Akeredolu has said the contest would be a replay of what happened in the 2016 election when he first defeated the PDP candidate.
Besides, he said that his deputy’s defection to the opposition would not affect his chances at the coming poll.
Describing his estranged deputy as a politician of no consequence, he vowed to defeat him even in his own Ese Odo Local Local Government home and political base.
Akeredolu further described Ajayi’s exit from APC as good riddance to bad rubbish.
He advised Ajayi to remain in the PDP with Jegede rather than jumping ship again.
The governor, who spoke at the APC national secretariat in Abuja shortly after appearing before the Ondo State Governorship Appeal Committee of the party, also declared that his estranged deputy, Hon Agboola Ajayi is a politician of no consequence, vowing to defeat him even in his own local government.
Describing the exit of Ajayi from the APC as good riddance to bad rubbish, he advised him to remain in the PDP with Jegede rather than jumping ship again.
He said: “For me, the deputy leaving the APC to return to the PDP is good riddance to bad rubbish. We thought we could accommodate him at the APC but since he returned to where he truly belonged, it is all well and good. I always wish people the best I can.
“From what I have been told, he has lost the ticket and I pray he won’t jump to another party but if he does, all well and good. However, for his own sake and as a big brother, I will advise him to stay with Jegede and support him very well.
“He has made a case that he helped me to win, let him help him to win and we will confirm that he is popular. What I know is that he is of no importance, he has no hold on any local government, I can assure you that during the election, I will defeat him in his local government and he will never recover from it.
“He is of no influence anywhere and we picked him because we felt we have someone from PDP coming to join us. We picked him to join us but he feels and tells people that he is grass-rooted.
“Let me advise him again to stay with Jegede and let us see what happens. Jegede is my friend. We are colleagues and both members of the inner bar, I don’t have anything against him and I just pray that our campaign should be issue-based without violence and I know that he knows that it will not be easy for him.
“Yes, it may not be easy for me to win, but by His Grace, I am going to win. I can assure that as it was in the beginning, so it shall be now and forevermore. We will win this election by the grace of God.”
On his visit to the party secretariat, Akeredolu said two aspirants in the APC had lodged a petition against him and he came around to answer to the charges.
“If some of them claim that the process that produced me is fraudulent, they have right to make such claims, but they should take it to the Appeal Committee and I will respond to it. They have to prove their claims before the committee and until they prove it and convincingly before the Appeal Committee, then I don’t need to talk about their claims.
“As you would have noted in my speech where I made it clear that to ensure that I reach out to all the aspirants that contested with me. I have already been to the houses of few of them. I am meeting with the leaders to call stakeholders meeting for us to move ahead on this matter.
I believe that there must be reconciliation and good enough, the committee headed by the Niger state governor is making great efforts to ensure that there is genuine reconciliation. I am ready for it. I want people to come so that we can reconcile and work together”, he added.
Reacting, the Jegede camp said that the Governor of Ondo state could come from any part of the state, as it faulted the argument of a purported zoning arrangement dictating that the a particular Senatorial District should produce the next Governor in the October 10 election.
The Head, Media Research of Eyitayo Jegede Campaign Organisation, EJCO, Mr Kayode Fasua, told The Radiance that: “As far as we are concerned, our principal is an indigene of Ondo State and he is contesting for the governorship of the state.
“He believes that relying on the zoning arrangement at the expense of merit and competence could only promote mediocrity and bad leadership. Above all, he is contesting for the governorship of Ondo State and not for governorship of a senatorial district.
“On our part at the campaign organisation, we make bold to say that Governor Akeredolu who is the current candidate of the APC is not from the South Senatorial District; and we have cases of other parties that did not pick their governorship candidates from the South as well.
“So, the Governor of Ondo State can come from any part of the state. The bottom line is that he or she should have the capacity to deliver on his or her electoral promises.”
He said: “If it is true that Agboola is defecting to the Zenith Labour Party to contest for governorship, we wish him well in his new voyage. For us, we are consistent and loyal PDP members; and we are not Janus-face. We are ever consistent.
“By the Grace of God and the support of the good people of Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede will emerge victorious in the October 10 governorship election.”
The PDP candidate followed this reaction with a declaration that the people of the state, who he said were tired of Akeredolu’s alleged abysmal performance in office, would vote out the APC administration in the coming election.
He described the governor’s claim that he would win the election as bogus, overrated and untimely.
Besides, Jegede said that the rigging and trickery tactics, which the governor allegedly intends to rely upon to win the poll are now obsolete and cannot safe him this time around.
He made the declaration in a statement by the spokesman of Eyitayo Campaign Organisation, Hon Gbenga Akinmoyo, which was sent to The Radiance, noting that for the governor to boldly declare in public that his “abysmal stay will be extended is to rely on a greater force than the will of the people.”
He said that apart from the fact that some of his hatchet men have fallen out with him, the Ondo state’s electorate, which is already fed-up, are ready and eager to show Akeredolu the red card.
Following is the full statement, entitled “Akeredolu has never won Ondo State: “The recent statement by His Excellency, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu forecasting his fate in the forthcoming October election is untimely and overrated.
Would it not be better to have allowed the sleeping dog to lie in peace? Was it neccesary to ruffle the feathers of the people and insult their sensibilities with these bogus claims?
As far back as 1963, Nigeria took a decision to become a Republic and thereby dispense with rulership by monarchy led by a royal family far away in Great Britain. Little did we know, the elections of 2016 in Ondo State would re-introduce the monarchical system into governance, endorsed by the party system.
What is more damaging is that the fact that the Emperor has manipulated the system so badly, yet he has never democratically won an election in Ondo State.
Well, truth be told Aketi has never won an election in Ondo State, so what gives him the impression his luck is about to change?
In 2012, a total of 26 aspirants traveled from Ondo State to Bourdillion in Lagos State to determine who would be the candidate of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigerian (ACN), Aketi returned from Lagos as the nominee.
Feeling on top of the world, he boasted his victory in the October 2012 Governorship election three months ahead. Not only did he lose, but finished a far distant third behind Dr Olusegun Mimiko of Labour Party and Chief Olusola Oke of the PDP.
In 2016, Aketi returned from Ibadan his place of regular domicile to contest on the platform of APC. For a young political party at that time, Aketi made history by orchestrating the most controversially doctored party Primaries in Ondo State to be recorded as the flag bearer through the back door.
A few months later at the Governorship elections, we now know that Aketi didn’t win the elections, following disclosure by the immediate past SSG, Hon Ifedayo Abegunde. He was fortunate that PDP didn’t challenge the outcome of the 2016 results.
We are now in 2020 and the external forces of the Presidency, Governor El-Rufai and Governor Fayemi have worked overdrive to save Aketi being screened out of the APC Primaries before eligibility for a contest in which he ought not have been a contestant.
Our advice to Arakurin is to use the next 7 months to try hard and amend the poor conditions prevalent throughout the state before packing his bags and leaving Government House in February 2021. Ondo State citizenry have no choice on that because his constitutional term of office is 4 years.
To boldly declare in public that such abysmal stay will be extended is to rely on a greater force than the will of the people. I’m sorry to disappoint Arakurin that the Rigging and Trickery tactics, which he intends to rely upon, are now obsolete and cannot safe him in October 2020.
Apart from the fact that some of his hatchet men have fallen out with him, a fed-up electorate are ready and eager to show him the red card.”
