Ondo State Deputy Governor and governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Mr Agboola Ajayi has refuted claims that he was planning to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and team up with the candidate of the party, Mr Eyitayo Jegede.
Ajayi said the alleged alliance with Jegede is a figment of the imagination of those peddling the rumour, adding that those who reported the fabricated news in the media are paid agents of the state government, whose business was to cause confusion.
The deputy governor who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Babatope Okeowo said: “this publication like the previous one from the same author is not only fake but planted by the information machinery of the outgoing governor of Ondo State, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu to discourage the teeming supporters of the Deputy Governor.
“The said publication was coming barely 24 hours after the state government prevented the deputy governor from using the government facility for the launch of his campaign, a development which showed their sinister motives.
“Let it be known to the members of the public that there is no romance between the candidate of ZLP and that of PDP after the governorship primary that produced Eyitayo Jegede as the candidate of PDP. There was no offer and rejection of running mate from the PDP leadership or Jegede to Ajayi as insinuated by the fake publication.
The said publication has failed to prove any nexus between the two candidates and tried unsuccessfully also to impugn the character of the deputy governor.
“We say emphatically that the deputy governor is winning the forthcoming governorship election slated for October 10 and he is willing to welcome candidates or other political parties who may wish to support his aspiration to rescue the state from the misrule of Akeredolu’s government,” he added.
In another development, the leadership of the ZLP in Ondo State has declared that the party will not go into any alliance with the PDP or any other political party.
The party in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Felix Olatunde, said “it has not, it is not and it will not contemplate any alliance or collaboration with the PDP in the October 10, 2020 governorship election.
“The blatant lie reported by a section of the media could at best be a product of the fertile imagination of the author and or his undisclosed source or sources,” Olatunde said.
He added that “the only alliance we have is with the people of Ondo State to oust Mr Akeredolu and the APC from the Government House and for this purpose, we will welcome those who are interested in joining our party in that direction.”