Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
An All Progressives Congress (APC) frontline aspirant for Ondo state governorship election, Olayide Owolabi Adelami, has argued that the exit of the Deputy Governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi, will not affect the fortune of the ruling party in the poll.
Reacting to his exit from the party in a chat with newsmen, Adelami, blamed the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu for failing to provide needed and necessary leadership when crisis hits the party.
Asked his view on the deputy governor dumping the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adelami described the sudden exit as “one of the key weaknesses of the incumbent governor Akeredolu at managing people.”
“The governor is not people-oriented. This explains why the majority of aggrieved members of APC in Ondo state are looking for a replacement. Ordinarily, Governor Akeredolu should have toed the part of reconciliation rather than a face-off with his deputy.
“However, the deputy governor’s exit will not affect the fortune of APC in the forthcoming governorship election. It will not have any adverse effect on the fortune of the party, the governor will directly miss a stabilization figure in his administration.
“In the coming days it will not be a surprise, if other key personalities in his administration will not follow the same path of exit. That is when the whole world will see the true picture of Akeredolu,” he quipped.
On his choice of the mode of primary, the former National Assembly deputy clerk said: “the popular opinion is a direct primary. I normally refer to it as election before election, nobody will be disenchanted, everybody will be given the opportunity to express themselves.”
On his plans for the state, Adelami said: “Ondo State is yearning for something new, something novel. If you look at the history of Ondo state you will find out this is not the first time. Remember Baba Ajasin who was a renowned teacher and a technocrat, Baba Adefarati, a renowned teacher and a technocrat, they all performed well.
“Like I said, the first thing is to maintain party cohesion. Number two, the numerous disenchanted, near hopeless youths roaming the streets. We have so many of them in Ondo state who have been carrying their certificates for the past five, six years looking for job that is not there.
“I am coming to Ondo state to engage our teeming youths. They must work, they are the asset of Ondo state and I value them so much. They are going to take priority in the projects I’m going to execute in Ondo state,” he noted.