Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, on Monday, said defeating the candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, in the October 10 governorship election in the state may not be an easy ride.
In the 2016 governorship election, Akeredolu had defeated Jegede, who was also PDP’s candidate.
The Ondo governor, who spoke with newsmen at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress shortly after appearing before the APC primary election appeal committee in Abuja, described Jegede as a friend and expressed hope that their campaigns would be issue-based and violence-free.
He said, “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. I am sure 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 speculations that the defection of his estranged deputy, Agboola Ajayi, to the PDP could negatively affect his chances during the election, Akeredolu said Ajayi lacked political influence as he would defeat him even in his local government area during the poll.
Ajayi had defected to the PDP in June and had contested for the governorship ticket of the PDP, but lost to Jegede.
Governor Akeredolu described his deputy’s exit from the ruling APC as “good riddance to bad rubbish.”
He said the APC had thought they could accommodate the deputy governor but he decided to return to where he “truly belongs.”
The governor said as a “big brother,” he would advise Ajayi to offer all his support to Jegede since the former had boasted that he helped him (Akeredolu) to become governor in 2016.
Akeredolu 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 belongs, 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 place 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, 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.”