- Two Ex Deputy Governors Of Akeredolu Will Square Up In Guber Poll
By Babajide Okeowo
Though recently departed after a protracted battle with cancer, the impact and gigantic political footprints of Late Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu will reverberate in Ondo State when the state’s electorates go to the poll on November 16, 2024 to elect a new governor for the state.
The Matrix has established that two of his ex-deputy governors will be among the front-runners for the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure.
This follows the emergence of Agboola Ajayi as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate after clinching the party’s ticket at a keenly contested primary election in the state.
Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the deputy governor of Bayelsa, who chaired the electoral committee that supervised the poll, announced the results on Thursday in Akure, the state capital.
Ewhrudjakpo said Ajayi scored 264 votes to defeat other aspirants.
“By virtue of the results, Ajayi Alfred Agboola having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of this primary and hereby declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the November 2024 election and is hereby returned as the candidate,” he said.
It would be recalled that Ajayi was the deputy governor of Ondo state from 2017 to 2021 before falling out with Akeredolu.
On June 21, 2020, Ajayi, a lawyer and businessman, resigned his membership from the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the PDP.
He cited irreconcilable differences between him and his principal, the late Rotimi Akeredolu, the former governor of Ondo.
He then joined the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) after losing the PDP gubernatorial primary to Eyitayo Jegede and became the candidate of the party in 2020.
Earlier, Lucky Aiyedatiwa who succeeded Agboola as Akeredolu’s deputy had clinched the ticket for the All-Progressives Congress (APC) to pave the way for the battle of the two ex-deputy govs!
