Ondo 2020: PDP guber aspirants fault Kunlere, Akingboye over Olafeso’s aspiration

The last may not have been heard about controversies surrounding the shadow primary held amongst aspirants from Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State, ahead of state-wide exercise to pick the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate as two of the aspirants have insisted that Dr Eddy Olafeso, won the exercise.

It would be recalled that both Biluwaji Kunlere and Bamidele Akingboye, who were participants at the shadow primary, had issued a denial that Olafeso, who is the South-West PDP vice chairman, won the exercise.

Bimpe Olatemiju and Omoniyi Ogunwa Oboli, two aspirants in the exercise, while insisting that Olafeso emerged the winner of the shadow primary, said four of them on the party platform, including Kunlere and Akingboye, actually prayed for and pledged their support for governorship aspiration of Dr Olafeso.

According to Olatemiju and Oboli, all of them equally agreed following an agreement and conclusion of the exercise to appeal to their supporters “to see the decision as sacrifice to create better life for our people.”

This was just as the duo, who expressed shock at the rebuttal, resolved to continue to back the aspiration of Olafeso as the sole aspirant from Okitipupa Local Government despite the current controversies which greeted the shadow primaries held amongst the aspirants from the area.

Speaking over the weekend at Okitipupa PDP Stakeholders’ meeting, Olatemiju, while expressing shock at the turnout of event, recalled that Oboli and himself met Olafeso, Akingboye and Kunlere at the Ode Aye home of Oboli on March 26, this year where they all agreed to work with one another and asked their supporters to sheathe their swords on social media.

“As a follow up, we met again last Thursday and after lengthy deliberations, we decided to cast our votes. The process was that we wrote the name of whom you want as the sole aspirant of the party, then wrote the date and signed below. The ballot papers are still with me,” he said.

Buttressing his colleague, Oboli, who hosted the meeting, said: “After we cast our ballots, Olafeso had three votes, while Kunlere and Akingboye had a vote apiece.

“Kunlere prayed for Olafeso and even cursed those who will betray the agreement. Akingboye offered his Akure campaign office and even urged us to buy the form for Dr Eddy in solidarity.

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“They both promised to collapse their structures, that informed the plea in the resolution paper to our supporters who we know might not be comfortable with the outcome of the historic exercise. It’s sad, politics is now without honour, dignity and integrity.”

Also speaking at the stakeholders meeting, Jumoke Akindele thanked the aspirants for at least sitting down together to reason, but expressed her disappointment about the sad turn of event, saying it was incumbent on anyone who puts in for an election to support the outcome.

“When you subject yourself to an election, you should know that you’re bound by the outcome,” she said.

Olafeso at the meeting thanked the leaders of the party and asked them to intensify efforts towards uniting the chapter of the party, declaring that the party remained one and united as a house divided against itself was going to fall.

“We are all one. We know for sure that a house divided against itself is going to fall. I will keep talking to my brothers,” he said.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE