Ali Olanusi, a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has revealed why Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defeated President Muhammadu Buhari in Ondo State during the presidential election.
He stated this on Wednesday at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Akure, to review performance of the party during the elections.
Olanusi, a former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, accused Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of “initiating the members of APC in Ondo State into anti-party activities after failing to secure the party’s tickets for his preferred candidates in the just concluded national assembly election”.
“If Buhari had won the presidential election in Ondo State, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu would have gotten the credit despite working against the party in Ondo State”, Sahara Reporters quoted him as saying.
“And we had envisaged this problem in Ondo State, and that is why we cried to the national leadership of the party on the anti-party activities of Governor Akeredolu.
“But they failed to listen to us, and didn’t recognise our voice then. For me, I am for the growth and unity of the party and we shall progress.
“So, we must not allow the monster, who is an ingrate and has no fear of God, including respect for elders and colleagues, to come back and rule us here again.
“Let us not allow ourselves to be monetised by other politicians, but to educate our people while we should vote for the right candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
“We must learn how to come together and appreciate each other. A divided house cannot stand. We need to work as a team so that our party can move forward.
“We recorded 54 per cent in the 2015 presidential election when we didn’t have APC as the state government. Now, as a state controlled by APC, we performed woefully.”
Isaac Kekemeke, a former APC Chairman in the state, said the funds disbursed to Ondo by the party’s national leadership for the elections were diverted by Akeredolu.
He said Akeredolu was the major financier of AA in Ondo State, and called on the party’s leaders to intervene before the 2020 Ondo governorship election.
“The Governor worked against the party and he really didn’t want President Muhammadu Buhari to win the 2019 presidential election. So, they did not work for him in Ondo State, rather they all worked for their Action Alliance party,” he said.
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