Senator Jimoh Ibrahim representing Ondo South, has disclosed that the death of a former governor of the state, Rotimi Akeredolu, will enhance his chances of becoming the next governor.
Ibrahim who stated this while declaring his interest in contesting for the forthcoming governorship election in the state also expressed optimism that there would be no imposition of a candidate from the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress and the Presidency.
He made this known on Thursday in Akure, the state capital, noting that President Bola Tinubu would allow a free and fair primary to enable the best candidate to emerge.
He said, “I’m declaring my intention to run for the governorship election of Ondo State. Among the contestants, I am the oldest. I have contested election twice in my lifetime, one of which I contested for governorship position in 2003, and none of these contestants was on that ballot.
“The President will never say that we should go and work for the incumbent governor. He can only appeal that maybe he prefers one person if you can prefer him and if you cannot, go and do your election. So the President cannot say that I have taken this person so all of you should go and sit down. Even Buhari who is very clueless about anything can never do that.”
The APC governorship aspirant also noted that the death of former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu would not affect his chances but would rather increase the chance of winning the primary and the main election.
“Maybe the death of Aketi has enhanced my chances because Aketi is a human being, he can be subjectively objective at the last minute. But now that he is no more, that possibility is written off completely. So whoever is there, wants to run for governor will meet me at the field.
“So Aketi’s death doesn’t affect my chances at all, but it would rather enhance my chances to win the governorship position of this state. So we are working seriously to win this election,” Ibrahim stressed.
