ONDO GUBER: APC candidate Akeredolu shuns debate

Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate was nowhere to be found during the Monday night governorship debate among the major contenders for the Saturday, November 26 governorship poll in Ondo State.

Candidates who participated in the debate which was jointly organised by Channels Television, Enough Is Enough (EIE) and Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), were Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy (AD); Jimoh Ibrahim of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Olu Agunloye of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Seun Okinbaloye who moderated the debate announced that Akeredolu was absent and hoped he changed his mind.

This was even as Yemi Adamolekun, executive director of EiE regretted that the state government refused the use of state assets, The Dome, for the debate and the refusal of the state’s broadcast stations to air the debate.

During the event, Oke, who said he had been in politics for 31 years claimed, “I believe in the Almighty I will win the election. Let the election be free and fair. If the election is conducted fairly and freely, and I lose, I will congratulate the winner. But if it’s not free and fair, I will challenge it.”

He denied that Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu has been sponsoring his campaign and promised to reduce high unemployment rate in the state. He assured that in three months, the people of Ondo State will begin to see changes in the economy of the state.

Oke who dumped APC for AD said there was no way he could have remained in the APC after the party “promised us transparent primary, but its primary was the most fraudulent and because of what I stand for, I had to move to the Alliance for Democracy.”

Ibrahim in his presentation claimed he brought live to the PDP and that he is the “oldest papa of PDP in the state”. He said Governor Olusegun Mimiko only recently joined the PDP.

Read also: Count me out of APC, Mimiko declares

Jimoh, who claimed he is not a spoiler but a developer, denied owing salaries of any of the 31,000 Nigerians he says works in his different companies and establishments and promised to create companies and provide employment. He added that it would take just three days to create a company.

Agunloye, on his part said he hates injustice “and whenever I see injustice, I fight it.” He therefore promised to offset Ondo State’s backlogs of salaries within his first few months assuming office.

He went further to say that his government would make the welfare of the people Ondo state its priority.
By Ebere Ndukwu …

Ripples Nigeria…without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now