The Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has said he is more popular than Agboola Ajayi, his closest rival in the just concluded governorship election.
Aiyedatiwa stated this following the outcome of the Saturday, November 16 election, which he won ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ajayi.
Naija News recalls that Ajayi was a former deputy governor between 2017 and 2021.
However, Aiyedatiwa, on Sunday, mocked the political opponent, saying he couldn’t even win his local government in previous elections.
The Ondo State governor stated this while addressing the claims that Ajayi was more popular and more politically sound than he was.
Aiyedatiwa said: “Ondo State people know both of us. We served the same master [Rotimi Akeredolu]; may his soul rest in peace.
“The people know us better.
“This is a governorship election, not a councillorship election within a ward. This is a different election, not a councilorship nor a chairmanship election. Not a local government election conducted by the Governor.
“Of course, I am more popular. The people can see. Let me say this. He ran for governorship election before against the late governor under the Zenith Labour Party. He didn’t even win his local government. If he is so popular and has that kind of followership. Supposed he won 10 wards out of his local government, he only won one ward.”
Vote Buying
Addressing cases of alleged vote-buying, Aiyedatiwa, who was aired live on Channels Television programme, said he was unaware of any vote-buying activities conducted by his political associates on his behalf.
On Sunday night, the Ondo State Governor said that the opposition parties are leveraging the vote-buying allegations as a rationale for their defeat.
“I’m not aware of such. The opposition will want to say that to make excuses for their failure, but for us, it is what we worked for; the people have spoken through their votes.
“There won’t be any reason to buy votes because Ondo people know what they want. I’m not aware of people buying votes on my behalf,” Aiyedatiwa noted.
Watch Aiyedatiwa speak below:
