Seven Ondo APC gov aspirants reconcile with Aiyedatiwa

Seven out of the 16 governorship aspirants who participated in the Ondo State All Progressives Congress primary election have declared their support for Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to win the November election.

The aspirants are Morayo Lebi, Prof Dayo Faduyile, Dr Soji Ehinlanwo, Prince Diran Iyantan, Mayowa Akinfolarin, Funmilayo Waheed-Adekojo and Mr Jimi Odimayo.

In a statement issued by the group on Thursday, the aspirants called for a genuine interest in the progress of the party.

The PUNCH reports that five out of the aspirants who contested the primary election were dissatisfied with the outcome of the primary and filed petitions with the appeal committee.

Also, one of the aspirants, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, to challenge the outcome of the primary and pray the court to order a fresh exercise.

But the seven aspirants, in a statement on Thursday, though some of them had reservations about the exercise; the party’s position was supreme.

The statement read, “We who were aspirants in the just-concluded governorship primary wish to call all members of our party who have a genuine interest in the success of the party in the forthcoming election in November to embrace peace for a resounding victory in the polls.

“The party position is that His Excellency, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, is our gubernatorial candidate. This position should be sacrosanct to us all, even when some of us have expressed some reservations. We acknowledge that perfection is a moving target.

“As party leaders who have contributed significantly to nurturing the party to impressive growth, we cannot allow anything that could lead to the polarisation of our party with the potential consequence of undermining unity within our party.

“We, therefore, call on our supporters and all stakeholders to put aside personal interests and allow the overriding interest of the party to take precedence.”

The APC chieftains noted that the victory of the party in the forthcoming November governorship election was paramount to them, and called on other aspirants to work hard.

“Victory for our party in the upcoming November governorship election is of paramount importance. We, therefore, call on all party men and women to rally behind our party’s candidate, His Excellency Lucky Aiyedatiwa, henceforth to achieve outstanding victory.

“We hereby appeal to other aspirants and members of our great party, who are aggrieved to put aside their grievances in the larger interest of the party. We need everyone on board in the collective march toward victory,” they said.