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Ondo Election: Jegede Opens Up On Why He Did Not Pick Agboola As Running Mate

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Why PDP Will Continue To Get Bigger In Ondo - Jegede
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Eyitayo Jegede, a governorship candidate in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State, has stated his reasons for not picking Agboola Ajayi, the Ondo State Deputy Governor as his running mate.

According to the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, it was the decision of the people to chose who his running mate should be, adding that Ajayi could not have emerged as his running mate because his ambition was to become a governor too.

Naija News recalls that Agbola Ajayi had dumped the All Progressive Congress, APC, to join the umbrella of the PDP in a bid to secure a governorship ticket, but was defeated by Jegede in the party’s primary election. However, deputy governor subsequently left the PDP for Zenith Labour Party, where he emerged as the standard-bearer.

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Many citizens and political stakeholders had expected to see Jegede and Ajayi team up to defeat the APC governorship flag bearer and incumbent Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, but the PDP candidate declared Gboluga Ikengboju as his running mate.

Naija News understands that Ikengboju is a member of the House of Representatives, representing Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency. Answering questions on why he refused to make Ajayi his running mate, Jegede who appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, noted that the deputy governor’s ambition was also to become a governor and not a deputy.

Jegede continued to point out that Ajayi was as well part of the “failure” of the Akeredolu’s administration that PDP is campaigning against.”

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He added, “Ajayi chose not to be my deputy. His ambition is to be a governor under a political party. He left the APC, came to PDP, defeated in our primary, and went to ZLP.

“I took opinions from virtually everybody. People chose who became my running mate. When a choice is made we must respect it. One should not allow his ambition to override the choice of the people.

“All the policies that we are fighting, the pains we want to end are the product of Akeredolu and his deputy. He was in our party (as a member) for just six weeks. He is a very powerful person and humble, you cannot do away with that.”

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Speaking on his manifesto, Jegede promised to strengthen the operations of Amotekun in Ondo State should he emerge winner of the October 10 election.

He said, “Amotekun will stay without political influence. We must protect our people,”

The PDP governorship candidate also said he would reduce the tuition of state-owned tertiary institutions, adding that “funding is not an issue.”

Meanwhile, Governor Godwin Obaseki has again commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the role he played in ensuring the success of the September 19 governorship election in Edo State.