Ondo APC members accuse Aiyedatiwa of defunding party

• Aide denies allegation, says gov is committed to party’s structure
• Stakeholders hail NNPP, candidate on choice of running mate
Some acclaimed concerned members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, yesterday, appealed to the President, Bola Tinubu; National Chairman of the party, Umar Ganduje and South-West leaders of the party, especially Bisi Akande and Pius Akintelure, to prevail on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to appropriately fund the party ahead of the scheduled November 16 gubernatorial election.

The aggrieved members also alleged that Aiyedatiwa is running an exclusive government such that he refused to set up necessary committees and structures to run and prepare the party for the next gubernatorial poll.

One of the aggrieved persons, who did not want to reveal his identity for fear of being vilified, said complaints had been made to Akande and Akintelure, among others, to prevail on the governor to make himself available to party members, saying: “Others may work against him in the election proper. We are just hoping that the governor will change.”

Meanwhile, efforts to reach the state chairman, Ade Adetimehin, proved abortive. When The Guardian tried to reach him on the phone, Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Ebenezer Adeniyan, dismissed the allegation as a figment of the imagination of disgruntled elements within the party who are pretending not to understand the busy schedule of a governor. He also said that the allegation that Aiyedatiwa runs an exclusive government was a lie.

MEANWHILE, some political leaders in the state have lauded the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming governorship election, Gbenga Edema, for picking Dr Rotimi Adeyemi as running mate.

According to the stakeholders, the choice of Adeyemi signals that the NNPP is determined to win the November 16 poll and take over the state from the ruling APC.

An elder statesman from Ifedore Local Council of the state, Gabriel Owoyemi, said that the choice of Adeyemi indicated the seriousness of NNPP towards ensuring that the state returns to safe hands.

Also, a prominent Akure leader and a member of the Igushin community in Akure North Local Council, Temitope Akintide-Gbangba, commended the NNPP on the choice of Adeyemi as the deputy governorship candidate of the party.

Others who lauded the choice of Adeyemi include the immediate past President of the Association of Akure indigenes, Oluwole Ademoyegun and a social philanthropist group in the Akure South, Egbe Omo Oke-Aro.