Ondo election: Akeredolu’s ex-deputy Ajayi emerges PDP candidate

Agboola Ajayi, a former deputy governor to the late former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has clinched the ticket of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) after emerging as the winner of the party’s primaries on Thursday.

Ajayi, who will be flying the flag of the party during the November 16 governorship poll, was declared the winner after polling 264 votes during the primaries held at the International Culture and Events Centre (The Dome), Akure, the state capital.

Defeating six other aspirants, Ajayi was declared the winner by the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who served as the Chairman of the Primary Election Committee.

With the results declared, Kola Akinjo, a former House of Representatives member, came in second with 157 votes, Sola Ebiseni took the third position with 99 votes, and Adeolu Akinwumi scored 64 votes.

Also, Bamidele Akingboye had 24 votes, John Ola-Mafo polled 9 votes, and Bosun Arebuwa scored 2 votes.

According to Ewhrudjakpo, out of the 627 elected delegates, 621 were accredited and two void votes.

Earlier, the Chairman of the seven-man Primary Election Committee stated that “we are in Ondo State for the conduct of the PDP gubernatorial primaries, where we have seven aspirants, and you know electoral rules require that for a candidate to emerge in any party, primaries should be conducted.

“Three forms are provided for in the Electoral Acts 2022; we have the direct, indirect, and consensus primaries. But here today, we are adopting the indirect primaries for which we are here.

“The aspirants have assured me that they would agree to work together.

“The problem with our party is how to get the power back from the APC that had taken power from us for the past eight years.

“You may be aware of my record that I was the one who conducted the primaries in Osun state, and we won in Osun, and I’m here again to conduct the primaries in Ondo state, and by the grace of God, we are going to win because the sun of the last year is still the same as this year, so the rain will fall and the farmers will have a good harvest.”

Ajayi had four years ago lost the ticket of the party to the former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Eyitayo Jegede, after which he moved to the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), where he lost the 2020 governorship election to his erstwhile boss, Akeredolu. After his sojourn in the ZLP, Ajayi returned to the PDP.