By Chinelo Obogo
Leaders in Ondo State under the umbrella of ‘Moments of Truth’, have opposed the gubernatorial ambition of Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa, because according to them, his candidacy will short change Ondo South, whose turn they say it is to produce the governor.
Speaking at the weekend in Lagos office, a senior lawyer and coordinator of the group, Dr. Benson Enikuomehin, said that since other senatorial zones in the state have enjoyed two terms of eight years, the people of Ondo South should not be deprived of theirs and that any candidate that will reduce the eight-year tenure should not be supported. He also said that Ayedatiwa, though academically qualified to contest, cannot do so constitutionally, because having completed the term of his boss, the late Rotimi Akeredolu, he is only entitled to only one more term.
The group urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to look in the direction of Olusola Oke (SAN) when they go for their primaries on Saturday, because, according to them, Oke is the most credible among the aspirants and is from Ondo South. “We appeal to our people to do the needful as regard the primary election. We don’t want a situation whereby a candidate not known in the state is thrown up.We should throw up a credible and reliable person. There are two major political parties that will participate in the governorship poll and the decision taken by the two parties will affect us directly or indirectly.We therefore owe it a duty to speak to the people of Ondo and to tell them the direction they should go. We decided to speak up to prevent things from going awry. The choice of governor of a state should be taken seriously. If the APC gets it wrong, the PDP must get it right. If APC should field Ayedatiwa as their candidate,that means the party has played into the hands of the PDP, because Ayedatiwa has a General Certificate of Education ordinary level issue,which may be contested in court, that may lead to his disqualification.
“We the people of Ondo South want to produce the next governor of the state and Olusola Oke is the best man for the job. We know him and we have interacted with him because he is a man of his people. One of the advantages Oke possesses is that he learned from the Agagu School of thought and he has learned under the versatile and dynamic President Bola Tinubu. All the delegates that will be casting their votes on the 20th of April, 2024 should look in no other direction than in this direction. We cannot keep quiet because Oke has been with us through our thick and thin; therefore, asking him to go ahead is not out of place. Of the three that contested in 2012, Dr. Mimko from Ondo Central had his eight years, Akeredolu from Ondo North had seven years, and the only general remaining is Olusola Oke and I think it is proper, right and good that the man takes over the saddle,” the group said.