A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Ondo State, Sen. Nicholas Tofowomo, says the PDP governorship candidate in the state, Mr Agboola Ajayi, did not accord him and former Gov. Olusegun Mimiko any political relevance.
Tofowomo, who represented Ondo South Senatorial District at the Ninth Assembly, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Okitipupa.
NAN reports that while Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa is the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the governorship election scheduled for Nov.16, Ajayi is the PDP standard bearer.
Tofowomo said it was unfortunate that both himself and Mimiko, who was governor of the state between 2009 and 2017, were not given any specific role to play in the preparation for the forthcoming election.
The former senator said that he called Ajayi and congratulated him immediately he won the PDP governorship ticket to show that he never had anything against him.
“In the PDP’s electoral committee list, former Gov. Olusegun Mimiko is number 78 while I am number 139 or so.
“With the list, I can understand that neither the former governor nor me was accorded any political relevance in the selection of members of the team,” he said.
Consequently, Tofowomo said he could not say categorically who would win the governorship election between Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Ajayi.
The former lawmaker, who said that he could only talk of what he was sure of, pointing out that since he was not aware of the preparations, he could not boast of PDP winning the election.
“I can only talk and boast about what I am sure of; that is why I said I am not certain if Aiyedatiwa or Ajayi will win the election. However, I wish both of them good luck.
“My supporters have been asking me where should they go but I told them to hold on until I will be able to tell them where to go at the appropriate time,” he said.
The former senator, however, said that he was not planning to defect to any party, stressing that he remained a bona fide member and strong chieftain of PDP.
NAN recalls that Ajayi and Tofowomo contested the Ondo South Senatorial primary on May 22, 2022, with Ajayi emerging the winner with 78 votes to defeat Tofowomo who scored 74 votes.
NAN also reports that efforts to get the reaction of Ajayi proved abortive, as calls made to his phone was not going through as at the time of filing this report.
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