Jegede carpets Akeredolu, says ‘he is dazed by my popularity’

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the November 26 gubernatorial poll in Ondo State, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, has carpeted his All Progressives Congress (APC) challenger, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, for describing him as a stooge of incumbent Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

He said the APC candidate was just overwhelmed by the Eyilafe phenomenon vibrating across the state.

Reacting to the outburst in a statement by his media aide, Mr Kayode Fasua, in Akure, on Sunday, Jegede said the claim by Akeredolu “is face saving, designed to cover-up the polarisation his ticket had cost his crisis-ridden APC at both the state and national levels.”

Describing Akeredolu as an attention seeker who is threatened by the Eyilafe phenomenon, Jegede remarked that the people of Ondo were too sophisticated for Akeredolu’s kind of pettiness and negative politics, insisting that the APC candidate should prepare for his imminent defeat at the poll.

According to Jegede, “it is ridiculous to say a man who has attained the peak of his career and unarguably the longest-serving head of Body of Benchers in the country, with a distinguished career in both private and public service, a stooge to anybody.”

He said Akeredolu’s description of his ambition as a third term agenda of Governor Mimiko only confirmed his fears and that of the APC’s looming failure in the coming election.

Jegede described Akerdolu as an outsider in the state who had no base, even in his home town.

He insisted that “integrity is a factor in determining who governs the state.”