The governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko may have hijacked the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress by giving subtle backing to a governorship aspirant of the party, Mr Olusegun Abraham at the instance of the embattled chairman of party, Mr Isaacs Kekemeke.
A serving commissioner in Ondo State who pleaded anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue confirmed that the trio of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Mr Olusegun Abraham and Mr Isaacs Kekemeke recently held secret meeting in the house of a top confidant of the governor in his house located at Ijapo Extension,Akure to discuss “political developments”.
At the meeting, the governor reportedly adopted Mr Segun Abraham as his preferred candidate of the APC with a commitment to bankroll the election of Mr Abraham at the primary election of the party.
The governor had told his friend, Mr Kekemeke, to work out plans on how three governorship aspirants will not get the party ticket. The aspirants are Olusola Oke, Ajayi Boroffice and Tayo Alasoadura. The governor consider the three aspirants as his sworn enemies whose victory at the primaries would threaten his political leadership in the state, the source said.
It was the understanding reached between the governor and Kekemeke that encouraged the embattled chairman to initially endorse Dr Bode Ayorinde for governorship but had to dump him because the National leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was not comfortable with the ambition of Dr Ayorinde.
“Governor Mimiko was not desperate to impose any candidate on the APC until Kekemeke introduced Abraham to him as the “best aspirant”, the governor only told Kekemeke to bring anyone except Chief Oke, Boroffice and Alash”, the source father said.
The governor has fulfilled part his promise by releasing the sum of N80million to Mr Kekemeke few days ago to mobilize delegates for Mr Abraham.
Just yesterday, Wednesday, Mr Kekemeke coordinated the distribution of N20,000 each to about 3,000 delegates. Some APC leaders received N40,000 each in the 18 LGAs of Ondo State.
Feelers from delegates show that primary election of the APC has been monetized by Mr Olusegun Abraham and the embattled chairman of the party, Isaacs Kekemeke.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login