Ondo State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has called on security agencies to probe the allegations made by former Secretary to the State Government, Sunday Abegunde, that he was part of those that manipulated 2016 election in favour of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Abegunde, after resigning from the government on Monday, said on a radio station in Akure that Akeredolu, an APC governor, did not genuinely win the governorship election four years ago.
“Akeredolu didn’t win the election in 2016 but we made it possible for him to become governor. We were the pillars behind him and we will not support him again. He will lose this time around,” he was partly quoted.
The governor reacted to the claim in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, saying the allegations must be investigated.
“Mr Governor, as an avid believer in democracy, rule of law and legality, is not a beneficiary of the fraud Abegunde and his unnamed co-horts allegedly perpetrated during the 2016 governorship election.”
He further disclosed that he had never supported electoral fraud and would not do so in the forthcoming coming election.
“Abegunde’s outbursts are weighty confessions that must be investigated by security agencies. Anything to the contrary will only encourage future acts as contained in the confessions. Such brazen anti-democratic acts are unambiguously grave dangers to our fledgling electoral system.”
Meanwhile, Abegunde, in a swift reaction to the governor’s call for probe swallowed his earlier comment.
He said a in follow up statement that: “I wish to reiterate that at no time did I say that the PDP won the 2016 election. That’s far from the truth. The APC won with a wide margin so that the PDP thought it fruitless to join issues on it at the court of law.
“However, I only stressed that it was a steady and concerted efforts of our loyal party stalwarts of which I was prominent that won that election.
“I said Governor Akeredolu was not the one that won the election, that we the people won the election for him. That we contributed all our efforts. At the end of the day, he thought it wise, thinking that he owns the government. And he’s now using the government for himself, his family and his associates.”
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