Agboola Ajayi, the flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo for the November governorship election, says he will win “convincingly”.

Ajayi, who was the deputy governor to late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu between 2017 and 2021, spoke on Friday during a press briefing in Lagos.

The election will hold on November 16, 2024.

Ajayi claimed that residents of the state have been grappling with poverty under the All Progressives Congress (APC) which has displayed a “lack of foresight and defined policy for good governance”.

He alleged that Lucky Aiyedatiwa, governor of the state, lacks foresight and coordination, and is “grossly incompetent in managing the affairs of the state”.

“It is my candid position that Ondo state cannot afford to continue an inch further on this road to perdition,” he said, adding that the election will shape or mar the fortune of the state in the next four years.

The governorship candidate said the people of the state would resist any attempt to buy votes and rig the election.

The former deputy governor reeled out his plans for the state in various sectors, including security, agriculture, education, health, infrastructure, industry and marine economic development, rural development and environment, sports, and civil service.

SECURITY

Ajayi said if elected, he will enhance the capacity of law enforcement agencies, particularly Amotekun, forest guards, vigilantes and traditional hunters through “advance training” and the provision of appropriate equipment and required legislation.

“We will incorporate and engage traditional rulers, religious leaders and other stakeholders in implementing community policing and neighborhood watch for the safety of our people,” he said.

“We will invest heavily in technology by deploying modern surveillance and intelligent gathering technologies to effectively monitor hotspots and vulnerable areas such as forest reserves and farmlands to prevent and respond to crime appropriately.”

AGRICULTURE

Ajayi said his agricultural policies will be anchored on promoting self-sufficiency in food production to meet the UN food security mandate.

He said this will include providing training and support for farmers to adopt modern farming techniques and incentives to investors to establish an agro-processing industry to add value to agricultural products, reduce post-harvest losses, create jobs for the youth and grow the economy of the state.

“We shall sustain agricultural practices for long-term productivity by ensuring the availability of fertilizers and agricultural input at subsidized rate. Providing tractors for farmers at a subsidised rate will be encouraged,” he said.

“We would also establish a procurement agency that will provide a ready market for all our agricultural produce which will in turn encourage our farmers to produce beyond their subsistence level.”

EDUCATION

Ajayi said quality education for economic development, social equity, technological advancement and cultural preservation for sustainable development will be guaranteed by his government.

According to him, schools will be built and renovated with the provision of information technology, recruitment of quality teachers and purchase of educational materials.

He said tertiary education will be well funded through an increase in budgetary allocation, adding that affordable tuition fees in the institutions will be negotiated with stakeholders.

HEALTH

The gubernatorial candidate said the health sector in Ondo is in bad shape.

“We shall address this ugly trend by providing at least one primary health centre in each of the 203 wards in the state which will be staffed with trained and dedicated medical personnel,” he said.

“The provision of essential drugs, hospital consumables and laboratory services to patients at affordable cost in all public medical facilities across the state will be our priority.

“We will partner with investors to establish pharmaceutical manufacturing industries in the state to produce drugs for sale to government institutions and the general public.

“The welfare of our medical officers and staff in the health sector will be our priority for effective service delivery.”

INFRASTRUCTURE AND MARINE DEVELOPMENT

Ajayi promised to rehabilitate roads, construct waterways, provide rural and urban electrification, and enhance and improve clean and pipe-borne water delivery “for the benefit of our people”.

“We will ensure that the moribund companies in Ondo state are resuscitated and where this is impossible, we will encourage the establishment of new ones,” he said.

“All these will be pursued with the singular purpose of creating massive employment opportunities for the people of the state.

“I will win Ondo guber poll convincingly.”

The All Progressives Congress has cautioned Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation, against undermining the Independent National Electoral Commission by questioning the results of the recently concluded Edo State gubernatorial election.

In a press statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, on Tuesday, the APC criticised Yiaga Africa for allegedly attempting to second-guess INEC’s authority.

Morka described the group’s actions as overstepping their mandate as election observers.

“Yiaga Africa is overreaching its election observer mission by second-guessing INEC on the result of last Saturday’s Edo State gubernatorial election.

“INEC is the sole statutory authority for the conduct and declaration of election results. Yiaga Africa is not and must desist from constituting itself as a parallel agency for the declaration of election results,” Morka stated.

The party also accused the civil society organisation of making baseless allegations regarding the manipulation of results, stating that these claims lacked supporting evidence and were based on speculative data.

“Alleging that results were manipulated without hard facts and figures, but based on some statistical guesswork, is a clear disservice to the electoral process. Yiaga Africa’s report is a travesty, replete with methodological flaws, politicised observations, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies,” Morka added.

He also stressed that election observers such as Yiaga Africa should respect INEC’s statutory role and refrain from encroaching on the commission’s responsibilities.

Morka further warned Yiaga Africa against sowing confusion by creating the appearance of a “parallel election process” through unverified and questionable statistical parameters.

He warned, “Election observer missions are not election management agencies and cannot usurp INEC’s statutory authority as the sole election management body in Nigeria.

Doing so would constitute a clear breach of the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Declaring or second-guessing the Edo State gubernatorial result based on unsubstantiated, unverified, and highly questionable statistical parameters created by Yiaga Africa is designed to create unnecessary confusion.”

Meanwhile, the APC expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for ensuring a fair electoral process and praised INEC and law enforcement agencies for their professionalism during the election.

He reaffirmed the party’s belief that the election results represented the will of the Edo people, who voted for Senator Monday Okpebholo as their next governor.

Morka stated, “The APC reiterates its immense appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for ensuring a level playing field, to INEC for its professionalism, and to law enforcement agencies for their diligence and service during the election.

“By their votes, the good people of Edo State were loud and clear in their choice of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the next governor to lead the state into a new era of peace, unity, people-centred development, and prosperity for all.”

The APC also reminded any aggrieved parties that legal disputes regarding the election results should be resolved through the courts, in accordance with the established electoral process.

On Monday, Yiaga Africa criticised the conduct of the election, stating that the process and declared results lacked integrity.

The organisation alleged widespread irregularities, including the manipulation of results by collation officers.

Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, says Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, will become politically irrelevant following the outcome of the September 21 governorship election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as winner of the Edo governorship poll with 291,667 votes.

Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who was Obaseki’s anointed candidate, polled second with 247,274 votes.

Speaking on Monday on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television, Oshiomhole said Ighodalo’s loss should sound the death knell on Obaseki’s political career.

The former governor of Edo also faulted Obaseki for visiting the INEC office in Benin City in the wee hours of Sunday, as the commission prepared to commence collation of results.

“I was a governor. Once I finish voting, if I like I’d wait at the polling booth for a bit, chat with people and then I go home. If I find that my appearance is attracting more attention, I just quietly head home,” Oshiomhole said.

“How can a sitting governor go to a collation centre? To intimidate or possibly influence the results or to change the results? What was he doing there? How can a governor go to a collation centre when collation is going on?”

Obaseki had said his mission to the INEC office was to find out why the electoral umpire had not commenced collation.

Oshiomhole also criticised the outgoing governor for labelling the election a “do-or-die affair” days before the polls.

“Obaseki said the election was a do-or-die affair. He told you that here. He insisted. Now, the people have done it, he’s dead,” the senator said.

“Now the people have done it, I guess he’s politically dead. I know so. The verdict is out.”

‘OKPEBHOLO COMMUNICATED WITH ELECTORATE’

Oshiomhole said Okpebholo should not be judged on the basis of his inability to communicate in fluent English.

The governor-elect shunned a handful of television invitations before the election, with many often referencing his smattering English on the campaign trail.

“So, if you can speak good grammar because you sit on a board, nobody knew how you became a board chairman… Edo people have spoken,” he added.

“When a man goes to a village and speaks his dialect, he has more impact on those communities than when you speak high profile English that when you finish, people will ask ‘what did he say’?

“Monday communicated with the Edo electorate and it worked.

“The mistake you TV hosts make — many of you — is to assume that anyone who doesn’t appear before you… you exaggerate the importance of television viewers.”

Oshiomhole also described the governorship poll as “free and fair”.