Ondo election: Jegede suffers setback as PDP members back out of campaign

- The governorship ambition of PDP candidate Eyitayo Jegede has suffered another setback ahead of the election

- PDP governorship aspirant, Banji Okunomo, and his supporters have backed out of the campaign activities of Jegede

- A vote of no confidence was passed on Jegede by members of Okunomo's campaign organization

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Ahead of the Ondo state governorship election, it appears all is still not well in the camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as it plans to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Banji Okunomo, a governorship aspirant, and his supporters have backed out of campaign activities of Eyitayo Jegede across the state, The Nation reports.

Jegede was asked to pick one of the aspirants from Ondo South that contested against him at the PDP primary as his running mate, instead, he chose Gboluga Ikengboju, a member of the House of Representatives.

The Okunomo campaign organization on Thursday, August 20, in a communique, directed all its members to refrain from joining forces with all political activities which relate to Jegede and his gubernatorial ambition till further notice.

Members of the campaign organization after an enlarged meeting at Okitipupa passed a vote of no confidence on Jegede.

The PDP members while accusing Jegede of manipulating the party's structure to favour his political camp at the expense of others, said they observed his overbearing manner since he emerged as the governorship candidate.

The communique reads in parts: “The BBO executive session views with emphatic disapproval and absolute sense of rejection the undemocratic and unpopular dimension in which Barr. Eyitayo Jegede chose to foist the nomination of Hon. Ikengboju Gboluga a serving Member of the House of Representatives representing Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency on the PDP as his running mate and Deputy Governorship Candidate in stiff defiance to all wise counsels to the contrary portraying him as a rigidly conservative person that will always override superior majority view.”

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Earlier, Legit.ng reported that PDP leaders in Ondo have rejected the running mate chosen by its flagbearer ahead of the governorship election in the state.

After his victory at the PDP primary, Jegede chose a member of the House of Representatives, to the dismay of party chieftains in the state.

The PDP bigwigs in Ondo accused the flagbearer of refusing to accept all the names given to him as suggestions for him to choose from because they are not among his caucus.

The leaders believe that the choice of a running mate is crucial and capable of negatively influencing the outcome of the election for the party and could cause an internal crisis if the right decision is not made.

In a related development, Jegede still faces the tricky hurdle of bringing aggrieved members to terms.

It would be recalled that Jegede defeated seven other aspirants on Wednesday, July 22, including Agboola Ajayi, the embattled deputy governor of Ondo state.

The senior lawyer, who had served as the Ondo state commissioner of justice and attorney general, polled 888 votes to dislodge Ajayi who polled 657 votes.

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Source: Legit.ng