Tongues are wagging in Ondo State as All Progressive Congress bigwigs have been pointing accusing fingers at Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and his wife over a clandestine plan to destroy the party in the state.
The gale of deflection from the party to other parties in the state is being traced to the high-handedness and overbearing posture of the governor and his wife who were accused of behaving like the emperor and empress in unilaterally choosing candidates for the 2019 general election in the state while the wife imposed candidates on the party without any primaries.
The crisis in All Progressives Congress (APC) over the emergence of candidates in the next year’s elections has led to the defection of candidates loyal to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to the Action Alliance (AA).
A member of the party (name withheld) disclosed that the game plan in the governor’s camp is to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election and throw the other seats open
“Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) loyal to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State have dumped the party for the Action Alliance (AA) in order to contest next year’s National Assembly elections. They include Dr. Olatunji Julius Adeoye-Felder and Dr. Tunji Abayomi,” our source said.
While Adeoye-Felder is the candidate of AA for Ondo South senatorial district, Abayomi will fly the party’s flag in Ondo North.
Apart from the duo, other APC aspirants, who have defected to AA in order to contest the forthcoming elections, are Chief Segun Ategbole, who is running for Akoko Southeast/Southwest federal constituency seat and Hon. Stephen Olemija, the member representing Akoko Northeast/Northwest in the House of Representatives.
This development has led to palpable fear among National Assembly candidates of the ruling APC over the source of funding for their campaigns and the setting up of campaign structures by the leadership of the party in the state.
It has also made all the National Assembly candidates who were promoted by the governor in the APC to be stranded not only in terms of funds but as a result of lack of capacity to effectively have a robust reconciliation process with aggrieved members of the party.
The candidates being promoted by the governor in the APC include Senator Omotayo Alasoadura (Ondo Central), Mr. Donald Ojogo (Ilaje/Eseodo), Otunba Timehin Adelegbe (Owo/Ose), Dr Jibayo Adeyeye (Ondo West/Ondo East) and Albert Akintoye (Irele/Okitipupa) federal constituencies..
The defection from APC to AA has shored up the fortune of the party and made the party, which was unknown in the state to be darling of some people. With this development, the governor’s camp may mobilize support for AA’s candidates in parts of north and south senatorial districts.
It was learnt that the game plan in the governor’s camp made the group, led by a former deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Ali Olanusi and former state chairman of the party, Hon. Isaac Kekemeke, to hold a meeting to raise alarm over some developments in the party.
