The National Leader of the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has described Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, as the best candidate to deliver good governance to the people of the state.
Ajayi is also the ZLP’s governorship candidate in the state governorship election slated for October 10.
Mimiko, who is the immediate past governor of the state, spoke on Saturday in Ore, the headquarters of Odigbo Local Government area of the state, during the party’s launch of campaign for its candidate in the forthcoming governorship election.
The ex-governor also urged the electorate to collect the “stolen money” that some party had promised them and still vote for ZLP that would bring back good governance, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.
He urged the electorate not to fear or be intimidated by those threatening to unleash violence on the day of the election, saying, “we own this state together.”
Addressing the crowd at the event, Ajayi boasted that he was more experienced than other candidates to govern the state.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and Eyitayo Jegede are the candidates of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party respectively in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Ajayi, who joined the ZLP and became the candidate of the party in August, said he was a grassroots politician and rose through the ranks before becoming the deputy governor of the state.
Ajayi said, “They said I am a neophyte in politics; they don’t know what they are saying. Though, they are SANs, I am the most experienced to be the governor of this state; I am more qualified than all of them.”
Ajayi pledged to reduce the tuition fees of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko to N50,000 and to bring back electricity to the communities in the Ondo South Senatorial District.
He also pledged to reform the state civil service if elected governor.
The National Chairman of the party, Mr Dan Iwuanyawu, asked the party supporters to go to their wards to work for the party’s victory.
In another development, there was a mild drama in Ondo town, Ondo State, on Saturday, when some supporters of the APC and those of the ZLP, almost clashed when the two parties met in the town. An eyewitness said the expressway was blocked against vehicular movement for several hours while some leaders of the two parties engaged in a shouting match.
The eyewitness said it took the intervention of Mimiko and some security agents in the town before the road was cleared for the ZLP supporters to pass.
