By Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi and Sunday Ogedengbe, reporting from Ore
Over ten thousands members of the All Progressive Congress, Social Democratic Party, Labour Party and NNPP in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State today decamped to the People’s Democratic Party ahead of the forthcoming November 16, 2024 governorship election.
The decampees were received into the PDP by the governor of Oyo state and leader of the party in the Southwest, Engineer Seyi Makinde who joined the Agboola Ajayi Campaign Train to the local government.
The decampees while joining the PDP today during a well-attended Governorship Campaign at the Government Ground in Ore said that they chose to join the party as a result of the misrule of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
They added that it’s their belief that the PDP Governorship Candidate, HE Hon. Agboola Ajayi will return the lost glory of the state the moment he is sworn-in as governor in February, 2025.
According to them, the Ondo state government led by Lucky Aiyedatiwa had destroyed all their farmlands and sold some to some Chinese investors at their own peril without any compensation.
The chairman of PDP in Odigbo local government, Prince Sunday Falolo in his speech stated that all the people that attended the rally were true products of PDP in the local government, stressing that no one was rented to attend.
He assured the candidate that the local government will be delivered to the party on November 16.
Hon. Bakita Bello, the Ondo State Chairman of the PDP said that the government of Hon. Agboola Ajayi will stop the sufferings which everyone is going through in the state today.
The Deputy DG of Campaigns in Ondo South, Pastor Ralph Ademulegun urged voters to protect their votes on the election day to avoid ballot boxes snatching.
Also, a grassroot mobilizer, Shehu Agba said that he left the APC because the party had enslaved Nigerians. He added that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa had sent several people to beg him, stressing that he declined because he had made up his mind.
He said that everyone in Odigbo must cast their votes for Agboola Ajayi so that he can make life bearable for them.
In her reactions, the Ondo State Woman Leader of PDP, Princess Kemisola Adesanya urged women to make use of their voters cards on the election day so that Agboola Ajayi can empower them when he becomes governor of the state next year.
Adesanya urged voters in the local government not to be afraid of threats to their lives, stressing that no one has the monopoly of violence.
Speaking, the DG Campaigns, Engineer Clement Faboyede reminded the crowd of the achievements of Agboola Ajayi while he was local government chairman and members of the House of Representatives.
He assured them that Agboola will return their lands that had been taken away from them by the present administration.
Faboyede said that the people of Odigbo should not be bothered as Agboola Ajayi will perform excellently well just like the PDP governors in Oyo and Osun states have been performing.
He noted that it was the government of the PDP that developed Odigbo before the APC took over and bastardized everything.
A former commissioner in Ondo state, Mrs Lydia Olafunmiloye said the emergence of Agboola Ajayi is a good luck to the people of Ondo State. She said the APC administration had brought so much hardship into the country .
Olafunmiloye urged voters not to allow themselves to be deceived with N10,000 which she said the APC is planning to use to buy their votes.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Campaigns Council, Eddy Olafeso PhD thanked Governor Seyi Makindi for his supports.
Olafeso enjoined voters to vote for good governance by using their votes to send away the government of oppressors which is being led by Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Also speaking, the Deputy Governorship Candidate, Hon. Festus Akingbaso urged the youths in the local government to ensure that they don’t allow the present government to use them for any social vices.
Akingbaso assured the youths that he will make sure that they aren’t left out of the scheme of things immediately the PDP takes over power from the APC.
Akingbaso, a member of the House of Representatives also urged the people not to chicken out as a result of threats from the ruling party. “You must use force to liberate yourselves from slavery” he added.
In his speech, the Governorship Candidate of the PDP, Hon. Agboola Ajayi
asked the people to be prayerful so that God can take the party to power during the election.
According to him, his administration will perform very well in the areas of education, health, infrastructure, employment, security, agriculture, youth and women empowerment and some other areas.
He said that he will make sure that their farmlands that had been taken away from them will be returned to them.
He said it was his boldness that made the rally in Ore to hold as the APC-led administration had tried to stop the PDP from using the Government Ground in the town for the event.
Ajayi assured the crowd that the APC won’t be able to rig the election because they are no longer popular in Ondo State.
Rounding it up, Engineer Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo state promised to deploy powers to ensure a free and fair election.