There are indications that the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Hon. Ajayi Agboola may resign this week to pursue his political ambition.
It was also gathered that some APC lawmakers in the Ondo State House of Assembly would also resign their membership of the APC and join the PDP.
Sources said resignation of the Deputy Governor was to enable him defect to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) where he is expected to contest for the governorship.
However, spokesman for Agboola, Babatope Okeowo, said it was not true that his boss would resign this week, as he said his boss could contest whether in the PDP or the APC without resigning from office.
Recall candidate of the PDP in the 2016 governorship election, Eyitayo Jegede, had disclosed on the defection of Agboola last week when he picked his nomination form.
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Jegede stated that the coming of Agboola to the PDP “demonstrated that the APC has collapsed and Agboola needs to look for a good house.”
He said, “If APC was and is good, Agboola Ajayi would not leave APC. If PDP is bad, he would not say he is coming to PDP.”
The state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, speaking in an interview last week on the feud between the Deputy and his principal, said Governor Akeredolu was not interested in impeaching or removing the Deputy Governor.
He said, “Mr. Governor believes that whoever wants to leave his government can leave at any time. He will not raise a finger to push anybody out.”
Relationship between Agboola and Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has since collapsed over issues of trust and betrayal.
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In a related development, governorship aspirants under the APC in the state, Chief Olusola Oke and Senator Ajayi Borofice, representing Ondo North Senatorial District, have accused each other of working for the second term bid of Governor Akeredolu.
The war of words between them followed the emergence of Oke as the consensus aspirant of the Unity Forum.
The Unity Forum, headed by a former Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, was the platform through which aggrieved APC chieftains in Ondo hoped to stop the second term bid of Akeredolu.
Cracks emerged in the forum when Oke was announced the consensus aspirant.
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However, in a fight back, Borofice outrightly rejected Oke as the forum’s consensus aspirants and said it was a ploy to give Akeredolu an easy second term in office.
Senator Borofice, who doubles as the patron of the Unity Forum, in a statement, urged other aspirants to prepare for the primaries, alleging that the plan was for Oke to step down few days to the primaries after getting assurances that Akeredolu would hand over to him in 2024.
The statement convened through his media aide, Kayode Fakuyi, reads: “The media report suggesting that Unity Forum has adopted a consensus candidate to represent the Forum in Ondo APC governorship primary election is misleading. The fact is that Unity Forum has no consensus candidate.
But the Unity Mandate Group said Borofice was only playing politics of divide and rule to frustrate successes of the Unity Forum.
Just last week the Unity Mandate Group came harder on Boroffice by accusing him of creating the template of crisis in the Unity Forum so as to either allow Akeredolu go for another term or install a puppet governor in the person of Dapo Adelegan.
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Senator Borofice however described the allegation as laughable and described the group as faceless and not credible.
