TheCable

Rotimi Akeredolu, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Olusola Oke chose the Alliance for Democracy (AD), a dead party, to contest the Ondo governorship election.

Oke joined the AD and clinched the governorship ticket after losing out at the Ondo primary election to Akeredolu.

But speaking with journalists after the inauguration of the Ondo campaign committee on Thursday, Akeredolu said he was not threatened by Oke’s emergence in another party because “the dead does not threaten the living”.

“Olusola Oke is not a threat to us,” he said.

“I mean if he chose to contest under a dead party, that is his choice. There’s nothing anybody can do about that but that it is a threat is not possible.

“The dead does not threaten the living. We are a life party, APC; we don’t fear any threat; we know that the contest probably might be between us and the PDP.

“So we are sure-footed in this election. We have worked tirelessly to make sure all of us will work together as one. If you talk about somebody like Senator Boroffice, he was one of those who filed a petition but as I am talking to you, he is with us.

“So we are gaining ground; virtually all our members have come back. Yes, there might be a few people you can give money to here and there, but those are not the leadership of the party. The full leadership of the party remains in the APC and all of us are now working together.

“I want to believe that my chances are very bright; we do not have any doubt that by the grace of God, we will win. You can see men and ladies of Ondo state here. These are men of timber and calibre; we have the full support of our members and two senators who are gladiators both in the north and central senatorial zones.

“We have the full support of our members who are members of house of representatives. All of them won elections. So, if those who won elections who are fully representing the state [are with us], we can be sure that the victory is certain although we have a lot of work to do.

“I call it challenging because of the special circumstances that has brought us to this point today. Otherwise, Ondo state is ripe for the taking to be added to the APC progressive family.”