Ahead of today All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Ondo state, three out of the twelve aspirants contesting with Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu have announced their discontinuation from the race in order to support the second term bid of the incumbent governor.
BusinessDay reports that the three aspirants included Segun Abraham, an aspirant who contested APC primaries with Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in 2016 and is being touted as the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu’s political God-son; Ifeoluwa Oyedele, who is being rumoured to have had the Presidency’s blessings to run for Ondo APC governorship endorsed by the Presidency as well as Jimi Odimayo, another strong aspirant.
Segun Abraham, a close associate of National Leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, pulled out of the race on Monday morning, just a few hours to the commencement of the exercise.
The Media Officer of Olusegun Abraham Campaign Organisation, Kunle Adumashi, confirmed this development to journalists in Akure, saying: “Dr Abraham is no more participating in the primaries: He does not trust the process. So, he is no more participating.”
Also announcing his discontinuation from the race, Oyedele said he had decided to work together with Governor Akeredolu, saying the primary election would be without bloodshed and assured Governor Akeredolu of his total support for the party.
Oyedele said, “All of us will work together for this election and I want to assure you that the interest of the citizens of Ondo State is more important than any other thing, and we are determined to ensure that we work together only for what will benefit the citizens of Ondo state.
“We will work together to unite the party, to rebuild the party, unite our people so that we can have rapid economic development; we call on other participants to also support us in this quest”.
Recall that the Chairman of Ondo APC Governorship Primary Election, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, had earlier said he had no power to postpone the primaries, saying that the primaries would hold today (Monday) as scheduled.
