Gov Poll: Shettima, APC Bigwigs Storm Ondo, PDP Campaigns For Ajayi

Vice President Kashim Shettima; National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje; Governors Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos); Abdulrahman AbdulRasaq (Kwara), Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti) and other stalwarts, chieftains of the APC, on Wednesday, stormed Akure, the Ondo State capital, to drum up support for the party’s candidate in Saturday’s election, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The ‘mega’ rally, which held at the MKO Abiola Democracy Park, Akure, saw the party stalwarts call on the Ondo electorate to troop out en masse on Saturday to ensure that Aiyedatiwa is elected.

The rally featured Ganduje, supported by the governors present, officially handing the party’s flag to Aiyedatiwa and his running mate, Dr Olayide Adelami.

Addressing the crowd of supporters who converged on the park, Shettima held that if past leaders of the state like Adekunle Ajasin, Adebayo Adefarati and Rotimi Akeredolu were alive, they would vote for the APC and not those he regarded as “reactionary elements.”

I Now Understand How…

He said, “In just a few days, you will have your chance to show the love you have for the governance of Lucky Aiyedatiwa. So I urge you to come out en masse and cast your vote for the APC. Your vote is your voice.

“I would have asked my friend and brother, His Excellency, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to go back home and wait for you to deliver the mandate for him. But, we need this moment to celebrate ahead of the election.

“I want to echo the sentiment made earlier by the Senate Majority Leader. If Adekunle Ajasin, Rotimi Akeredolu and Adebayo Adefarati were to be alive, would he have voted for the APC or the reactionary elements?”

Shortly after handing the party flag to Aiyedatiwa, Ganduje, in his remarks, declared that the APC governorship candidate was the right man for the job.

He said, “We are here to motivate you, but we found out that you are already motivated. We are also here to present our flag to the standard-bearer of our party for the governorship election of Ondo State.

“I want to urge Ondo people to get ready to vote massively for our candidate, the governor. By voting for him, you are voting for continuity, continuity in terms of progressive governance, provision of infrastructure, and social services to the people of Ondo State.

“So we are hopeful that, by Saturday, you will all come out and give us 18 over 18 votes. By voting for him, you are voting for unity and political uniformity in the South West geopolitical zone. By the grace of God, the state will be won by the APC.”

Earlier, the Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele said, “I greet you all on behalf of the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Speaker and all of us in the National Assembly. I have only one question for you before I return to my seat.

“If former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Baba Adekunle Ajasin and Baba (Adebayo) Adefarati were to be alive today and we are going to hold this election, which party would they have asked you to vote for? So, I beg you in the name of God Almighty, Obafemi Awolowo, Ajasin and Akeredolu (to vote for APC) on Saturday.

“Remember that we have a new Lagos today because of the continuity in government. Never again should you allow people who will plunder the economy and treasury of this state once they take over.”

On his part, the Chairman of the Ondo APC Campaign Planning Committee and Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, urged the people of Ondo State to avoid fighting so as not to give the electoral umpire a reason to annul the election.

“When you troop out on Saturday, don’t fight anybody. Just stamp your thumb wherever you see the broom emblem on the ballot.

“We have boasted that we will defeat them outrightly,” he said.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo also boasted that Saturday’s election would be a clean sweep for the ruling party in all the state’s 18 local governments.

He said, “I don’t have much to say other than on Saturday, it will be ‘Operation One Direct.’ What did I say? We are not ready to do 16-2 or 15-3. It has to be 18-0 for Aiyedatiwa because we are all ‘Lucky.’

“Nobody in the history of Ondo State has ever scored 18-0. But Lucky Aiyedatiwa will deliver 18-0.”

But the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party rejected being described as a reactionary political party.

The main opposition party, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Kennedy Peretei, stated this in reaction to the statement credited to Vice President Kashim Shettima, during the grand finale of the APC campaign, where he described the PDP and other opposition parties as reactionary parties.

He said, “The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its leadership personify everything that is reactionary. Those who called themselves progressives in the first or Second Republic made life affordable and enjoyable as against what the APC stands for pain and frustration.

“Nigerians remember the 16 years of the PDP in the saddle with nostalgia. Let Tinubu fix our collapsing economy and infrastructure instead of worrying about the PDP.”

Ondo REC stays

Meanwhile, amid calls by the PDP for the redeployment of the Ondo Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, INEC has insisted that Babalola would conduct Saturday’s poll.

Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, defended the commission’s stance, saying it had found no substantiated evidence to support the claims against her, dismissing them as unfounded.

“Neutrality in the political arena is not new to Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola. She was deployed to Ondo State almost a year ago and nobody has ever accused her of hobnobbing with any political party. So, why are these allegations suddenly coming at this time when we have an off-season governorship election to conduct?

“To make it worse, all the allegations levelled against her so far have not been substantiated. Not one proof. She will not be redeployed. She will conduct the election.

“During her screening at the National Assembly, nobody raised any allegation that she was a card-carrying member or sympathiser of any political party,” Oyekanmi said.

Addressing the PDP’s broader accusations that Babalola may be biased in favour of the APC, Oyekanmi called on the party to present credible evidence.

“The onus is on the PDP to provide compelling proof. So far, they haven’t provided any,” he said.

He refuted claims that Babalola was an indigene of Ondo State or that she had long standing political affiliations, pointing out that she graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University over 34 years ago, long before the current political parties existed.

Materials distribution begins

Distribution of sensitive materials for Saturday’s election begins today. The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, stated this during the inspection of materials at the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Akure, on Wednesday.

According to the REC, the reason for the inspection of the sensitive materials was to show transparency of the commission to the stakeholders, in the preparation of the forthcoming poll.

Babalola noted that showing the stakeholders that the sensitive materials were still sealed and not tampered with would that the commission was determined to deliver a free, fair and credible election.

She said, “We have our schedule for distribution of materials. We received the materials on Monday, we scheduled Wednesday for the inspection of the materials, the distribution is going to be on Thursday.

“The reason we invited critical stakeholders such as security officers, political parties, observers, and media, among others to this inspection is to show transparency of all the sensitive materials as they were received. You could see that they were well-wrapped, nobody had tampered with them.

“When we come tomorrow (Thursday) for distribution, we will open their local government by local governments, give them to the electoral officers, we will start with the most far LG so that they can get to their council area on time. When they get to the LG, they will start distributing to Registration Areas and Polling Units.”

Representatives of the participating political parties, the Civil Society Organisations, the media and officials of the commission were present at the event.

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