Ondo State Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, has dismissed claims about his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which he only rejoined after resigning from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in order to fulfil his ambition of becoming the next Governor of the state.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Babatope Okeowo, faulted the claims that his principal has defected to the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), after he lost the PDP primary, to guarantee his participation in the October 10 Ondo governorship contest, against incumbent Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
In a chat with Channels Television on Sunday, Okeowo disclosed that the deputy governor was under intense pressure from his supporters to contest for the election.
However, he insisted that his principal has yet to declare for the ZLP or any other political party to contest the governorship election.
Sealing further, the deputy governor’s aide added that Ajayi has yet to take a decision on his next political move, saying he would likely make a declaration before the end of the week.
According to a Channels Television report, the Publicity Secretary of ZLP in Ondo, Felix Olatunde, revealee that the party has adopted Ajayi as its governorship candidate.
In his explanation, Olatunde stated that plans were being perfected to ensure that was done, noting that the candidate of the party, Rotimi Benjamin, had stepped down for the deputy governor.
Meanwhile, the PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Zadok Akintoye, had issued a statement that Ajayi was still a member of the party.
The deputy governor defected from the APC to the PDP in June to fight for the party’s governorship ticket in the primary but lost to Mr Eyitayo Jegede.
Thereafter, some of his supporters agitated that Ajayi be picked as Jegede’s running mate, but that was not the case as another person was chosen for the position.
The deputy governor’s exit from the APC followed a disagreement between him and the state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who emerged the candidate of the his party, APC.
