Senator Jimoh Ibrahim has asked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to throw open its ticket for the 2024 Ondo State Governorship Election poll, saying he is not afraid of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Ibrahim stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Ondo governorship election will hold on Saturday 16th November 2024.
Ibrahim, who represents Ondo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, declared his governorship bid on Tuesday.
He said, “What are you refusing? Was Asiwaju (President Bola Tinubu) given a chance of first refusal? What is democracy? It is democratisation.
“If you are competent and you have your strategy, why are you afraid of competition? Go to the field. If you are elected, so be it.”
When asked if he was afraid of Aiyedatiwa, Ibrahim said, “How can I be afraid of Aiyedatiwa? With my Harvard strategy? My Harvard knowledge, how can I be afraid of Aiyedatiwa? Go and ask about me from (ex-governor Olusegun) Mimiko.
“Go and ask about me in the last PDP election in Ondo. Go and ask about how Akeredolu got his first term in Ondo, who was behind it in terms of mobilising and creating social awareness.”
Recall that Aiyedatiwa, a former Ondo deputy governor, succeeded Akeredolu after the latter’s death on December 27, 2023.
According to Aiyedatiwa, who declared his governorship bid on Tuesday, the wish of the late Akeredolu was that he (Aiyedatiwa) succeeds him as the governor of the state.
Meanwhile, a former Ondo state representative on the governing board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and a governorship aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Olugbenga Edema, has said that President Bola Tinubu, has not endorsed any of them contesting for the seat.
Edema, cautioned other governorship aspirants ahead of the April governorship primary election of the party to stop dropping the name of the president.
He spoke while featuring on a national television at the weekend in Akure, the state capital.
According to him the leadership of the party at the State and national levels including the President has not endorsed any of the aspirants.
Edema said that “Mr. President has not endorsed anybody.
” If he wants to select any one of us, he will call us to a meeting like he did when Ondo State was in crisis over the deputy governor and acting governor.
“The president would call the leadership of the party and hear them out.”
Also, speaking on the said endorsement by the late governor Rotimi Akeredolu, the former lawmaker, said “I met with the governor when Ilaje political leaders met with him and he said one of us from Ilaje would succeed him.
”I am the only one among those running for the governorship who was in that meeting.”
Speaking on the decision of former lawmakers to produce one of them as governor, Edema said “I stand on the pedestal of a former parliamentarian that we want one of us to succeed him. I am the only parliamentarian who understands the plight of lawmakers.
”Many think our duty is to pass a budget and go to sleep or need us when they want to impeach one person in government.
Edema added that “Many of them don’t know we are part and parcel of government. Lawmakers are not allowed to have input into the budget or perform oversight functions.
“I left the Assembly in 2015, and since then our severance allowances have not been paid whereas other government functionaries have been paid.
“It is the resolution of the Assembly that one of us should succeed Akeredolu and I represent that face.”
Edema, said he is the most experienced politician among the aspirants seeking the ticket of APC having been in politics since 1992 and having served in different capacities.
“I started politics during the Babangida era. I was relatively young then. But I was at the Jos convention when the late MKO Abiola was the candidate for SDP. As of then, I was already a university graduate, I was not idle.
“If you want to hire someone as the head of your organization, you will look at his pedigree, his relevant experience in similar association.
”In the length of service, if I were to be in civil service I would have been a permanent secretary while some of them who joined in 2012 would still be in the lower rung of the ladder.
“Aiyedatiwa has not told me about his ambition. I only heard about it in the media.
”Like I said if you want to hire somebody you will consider his certificate, you will look at the level of education. It is not just having a school certificate, but the capacity to deliver on good governance.”
The former Chairman of the State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC), while speaking on his tenure said all he did was in the interest of the mandate areas and the State when he was in office.
According to him “OSOPADEC was not a conduit pipe of the wife of the former governor. The Bemoore programme was part of the scholarship schemes of the board. The beneficiaries are girl-child from Ilaje and Ese-Odo and they are verifiable.
Edema added that ” I paid bursary to students of mandate areas and set up a microfinance bank. I would emerge as a candidate and the leadership of the party will set up a reconciliatory process in motion.”
