The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, has reacted to the emergence of Eyitayo Jedege as the flag bearer of the (PDP) for the October governorship electionduring the Ondo PDP Primary Election
Mr Ajayi said he “fought a good fight but had a lot of forces” that disturbed his emergence as the opposition party’s candidate.
Mr Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from Ipele town, near Owo, defeated Mr Ajayi and six others in the election that held at Dome centre, Akure, the state capital.
The former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state had 888 votes while the deputy governor polled 657 votes.
Mr Jegede also won the PDP primary in 2016, and flew the flag of the party in that year’s governorship election, a contest he lost to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress.
Reacting to his defeat, Mr Ajayi, in a statement by his media adviser, Allen Sowore, said “the people have spoken, and we accept the outcome in good faith, knowing fully well that it was a race against different forces.”
“We remain undaunted and resolute about our commitment to a people oriented government against personalised democracy. We wish the good people of Ondo State and the winner the best as we March on. For us, life goes on.”
Eight aspirants sought the party’s ticket at the primary.
They are Agboola Ajayi, Eyitayo Jegede, Boluwaji Kunlere, Eddy Olafeso, Ben Okunomo, Bode Ayorinde, Godday Erewa and Sola Ebiseeni.
Mr Ajayi, the deputy governor, had pulled out of the APC and joined the PDP, hoping to clinch the opposition party’s ticket.
His defeat now appears double jeopardy for him as he will now have to fend off an aggressive plot to remove him from office.
With this outcome, Mr Jegede is yet again the main challenger to Mr Akeredolu, who is the candidate of the governing party, the APC.