I didn’t step down for Aiyedatiwa during Ondo APC primaries, says Akinfolarin

One of the governorship aspirants who contested the ticket of the party with Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa during last Saturday’s primaries, Mayowa Akinfolarin, has dispelled the rumour that he stepped down for the governor during the shadow election.

Akinfolarin, who came second after garnering 15,343 votes, disclosed that he did not back out of the contest at any time, but he was determined to clinch the APC ticket during the April 20 contest.

Aiyedatiwa was declared the winner of the primaries on Saturday after polling 48,569 votes to defeat Akinfolarin and 14 other aspirants.

In a statement issued by the Mayowa Akinfolarin Campaign Organisation, the spokesperson, Oluwagbenga Ajongbolo, emphasised that during the stakeholders meeting held before the primaries, the Secretary of the Primary Election Committee, Ovie Omo-Agege, had revealed that none of the aspirants stepped down.

The former lawmaker, who urged his followers and people of the state to ignore the rumour, said, “The Mayowa Akinfolarin Campaign Organisation, for the umpteenth time, refutes the erroneous claims that our principal, the Rt. Hon. Mayowa Akinfolarin, stepped down for Ondo Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, in last Saturday’s APC primary election in Ondo State.

“This is not only embarrassing but unfair, unimaginable, baseless, and ungodly to accuse a man who traversed the political landscape of Ondo State and visited all the eighteen local government areas canvassing for votes and sure of victory to now drop his ambition for another aspirant.

“We are concerned that those fabricating and peddling these lies have resolved to dent the image and damage the reputation of an Akinfolarin whose records remain untainted despite spending the last twenty-five years in the political space of Ondo and Nigeria in general.

“Out of the sixteen aspirants who jostled for the APC candidature, only Akinfolarin and a few others reached out to party members in their homes and across the two hundred and three political wards of the state, while the others were only on social media.

He stressed that “at a time, there were allegations that one of the aspirants bought his forms for him. At another time, there were rumours that our campaign director general, Hon. Timehin Adelegbe, also collapsed his structure for another aspirant.

“There were also lies that our principal exchanged his aspiration for a million dollars. This is a confirmation that our principal has the popularity and sagacity to clinch the ticket and ultimately win the election in November. After all, nobody throws a stone at a fruitless tree.”