By Ayodele Oni
Agboola Ajayi, governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the November election in Ondo State and Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa share some common traits in their political career.
Both served as Deputy to late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu at different times. Ajayi served first during Akeredolu’s first term while Aiyedatiwa became his substitute when he lost face with late Akeredolu.
Both of them also survived impeachment plots spearheaded by the late Governor and executed by the State House of Assembly. This sent Ajayi out of the All Progressives Congress (APC) while Aiyedatiwa survived and emerged as late Akeredolu’s successor.
Now, fate has pitched these two political actors against each other as candidates of different political parties in the forthcoming Ondo governorship election. With ban on campaigns lifted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the camps of these two candidates are leaving now stone untouched to outsmart each.
First it was the issue of some members leaving APC for PDP that unfold what to expect from supporters of the two candidates as they proceed on their campaigns.
Ajayi again fired the salvo on Wednesday when he accused Aiyedatiwa’s administration of non performance and misgovernance. It was during his presentation by PDP leaders to the people as alternative to Aiyedatiwa.
Ajayi declared that “This is Ondo State and it belongs to all of us. So, if it is well governed, we will be safe. If it is not governed as expected, all of us will become the casualty of the bad government. That is exactly what we are experiencing in Ondo state now.
“I know in Ondo State, I know in Kiribo, Arogbo, Igbekebo, Oke-Agbe that our people aren’t having meals the way they should. Most of the communities that used to be economically vibrant cities have become dead.
“I am embarking on a journey that will transform Ondo State totally, a journey that will give us a state to be proud of. We will not give our people fish but we will teach them how to catch fish.
“I started politics at a very tender age as a ward chairman. I was one of those who went for Abiola’s convention in Jos. So, you should know that I started long ago. From there, I became secretary of the party, I became a councilor, I was also elected as a supporting chairman.
“From there, people elected me to represent Ilaje/Ese-Odo in the House of Representatives and with due respect to all members who must have represented that local government in that capacity, they have not been able to beat my record.
“So, the people of the state know us very well, they are going to choose wisely, I can assure you, they have already chosen me to lead the state in the coming election.
“I am going to make sure that we transform Ondo State to economic base where everybody will be busy in terms of commerce, economic activities and everything.”
As if waiting for opportunity to attack the PDP candidate, the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers Independent Council (LACO-FSIC) described the statement credited to the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, Mr. Agboola Ajayi, that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is incompetent, as the output of an empty mind.
Ajayi reportedly called the governor “incompetent” on Wednesday while speaking with newsmen at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Akure, where he revisited the nullification of the 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) by an Akure High Court.
But in a swift response, the Campaign Council through its State Director of Information, Mr. Kayode Fasua, stated that “Agboola Ajayi in saying that Governor Aiyedatiwa is incompetent, by not running around communities begging them not to go to court over the newly created LCDAs, presents Ajayi himself as an empty mind.”
According to the Council, Ajayi’s line of argument that Aiyedatiwa should have persuaded the litigants in the LCDAs’ suit not to seek redress in court presented him as too pedestrian to seek the office of Governor.
“Otherwise, why should Mr. Ajayi keep harping on the need for Governor Aiyedatiwa to have prevented aggrieved communities from going to court when an envisioned court verdict would never stop the state government from creating new LCDAs?
“What the court said in its judgement, in clear terms, is that the local councils were approved in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, and not within Ondo State territory, as required by law.
“Therefore, the state government can from there review the process, and come up with a decision that will appease all interests regarding the creation of new LCDAs.
“As such, Ajayi and his team are thus advised to desist from flocking media houses to make emotional outbursts on topics about which they lack adequate knowledge,” the LACO-FSIC appealed.
Besides, the Campaign Council expressed dismay at what it described as “the culture of brigandage which the PDP is bringing to the emerging governorship campaigns, especially in Akure, the state capital, where some leaders of the party have been breeding political thugs, harassing peace-loving APC supporters.
“They are herein reminded of the sad event of 1983, when senses took flight for evil to prevail, and many years after, Ondo State and indeed the entire country have been struggling to get out of the trauma caused by that political crisis.
“So, the Ondo State PDP should be guided, as there is a government in power, to maintain law and order, and will never allow miscreants to take over the state.
“Government will act within its powers to deal with such ugly situations as nobody will be allowed to put the state on fire.
“Again, the PDP candidate should mind his statements; being the candidate of a party does not give you the licence to keep insulting the executive governor of a state.
“Let Ajayi be reminded that nobody is above the law,” the Campaign Council warned.
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