Count down to the Ondo State Governorship Election, former President of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Prof Dayo Faduyile, has vowed to defeat the Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries slated for April.
Faduyile said he was prepared to change the fortune of the state when elected the governor. He stated this in Akure, the capital city of the state, on Friday, at a meeting with party members and his supporters.
He boasted that the incumbent governor Aiyedatiwa, who is also a governorship aspirant of the party, was not a threat to his chance of clinching the party ticket:
“I ran against the sitting candidate, the late Akeredolu, in 2020. Thus, my running against an incumbent is nothing unusual. However, I brought my structure down in 2020 together with the incumbent (Rotimi Akeredolu). I only did that because the state agreed on zoning, which was a stronger justification. I was adamant for all other reasons.
“Now it is the turn of the southern senatorial district by providence or otherwise, the governor is no more, and the deputy has now become the governor, and he is from the south. The question is, should I just bury my interest or ambition?
“The answer is that if you are very confident in what you want to say to change the narrative, you will still contest it. Even when Aketi was contesting, I still contested against him.
“To face an incumbent governor, you have to put in more effort. I want to also wish my brother, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, luck in his campaign, but look at us together; I’m better than him in many ramifications.”
The APC governorship aspirant further expressed confidence that whatever method the party will use to pick a candidate may still work to his advantage.
“The second one is for you to be picked either by ballot, consensus, or imposition, but it is left for you to elect yourself, and this is what I’m doing, but I know God is on my side; if it is by direct delegate, I’ll emerge. And if it is by imposition, that imposition will be Professor Dayo Faduyile.
“The leadership of the party can choose any mode of primaries. I have seen cases in which consensus has been reached and the results have been satisfactory to the members of the party.
“I have had the opportunity to see where indirect primaries have been used in the same way as direct primaries. Whichever one the leadership of the party wishes to use, anybody who wants to aspire must be ready for any of those three, which are in the rules of the APC, ” the APC stated.
Faduyile promised that if elected as governor of the state, he would revamp the education, health and economic sectors as well as the infrastructure of the state.
Following the passing of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in December, Aiyedatiwa took office as the state’s new governor. Before his official assumption of office on December 13 due to Akeredolu’s second medical leave of absence, he served as deputy governor.
