In their attempt to forge an alliance with the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) ahead of next Saturday’s Ondo governorship election, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governors are not leaving anything to waste.
The PDP governors reached out to former President Olusegun Obasanjo to speak to ZLP chief Dr. Olusegun Mimiko to help Eyitayo Jegede, the candidate for the governorship.
Obasanjo met with Mimiko in Abuja, PDP sources said, but the specifics of the meeting were still stored in the wraps.
Mimiko also met with a PDP northern governor at the weekend, the sources said.
Mimiko flew to Akure after the meeting in Abuja to campaign for the ZLP in Ile-Oluji, the local government of Ile-Oluji / Oke-Igbo.
Another source said the judgment of the Federal High Court last week directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish Agboola Ajayi’s personal data may be why Mimiko is entering into talks with the PDP.
Segun Sowunmi, former spokesman of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organization, also told journalists in Akure that the PDP did not foreclose the conversation with Mimiko
Mimiko, remained a crucial factor in ensuring that the ZLP systems collapsed into the PDP and helped Jegede he said.
It was also said that some ZLP chieftains have promised not to join Mimiko if he decides to dump the PDP faction.
The leaders, who were pleading for anonymity, said: “There is no more trust among the leaders of the ZLP faction.
“Honestly, in the party at the moment there is palpable uncertainty. We are afraid that, at the eleventh hour, Mimiko could dump Ajayi.”
“If you have followed Mimiko ‘s political path, this should not be a surprise to you. This is what he did to his former boss, Adebayo Adefarati (late).
While Baba was seeking his re-election in 2003, he was with him in the morning pledging his allegiance, but in the afternoon he dumped the late governor to enter the late Olusegun Agagu party.
In 2018, Mimiko announced his intention to contest ZLP ‘s 2019 presidential election and he asked one of his core loyalists, Engr., to know that his ambition would not fly. Gboye Adegbenro, who was already in search of the ZLP senate seat to step down for him.
He can not be trusted because of Mimiko ‘s history. He is packed with wonders. Don’t be shocked that Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, may even align himself with an estranged friend if he feels his interest in the APC family will be secured.”
Our new worries are still true and frightening; when we saw the news of the PDP governors’ meeting with him, he complained to somebody that it had been leaked to the press and that he was going to be in Abuja.
“We are set for anything that will stop Akeredolu come october 10, but if you are negotiating or holding meetings as a leader without the candidate there, there will be apprehensions and this is real; we are scared simply because he didn’t say anything about the meeting after he returned from Abuja,” he said.
But the expected collapse of the ZLP system was identified by Ajayi as a rumour funded by the drowning PDP.
Ajayi urged Jegede to be brave and frank to admit to the general public that his campaign did not travel.
He called for the suppliers of the fake alliance to stop using his name to curry the electorate’s favor.
Ajayi, who spoke to Jegede via his media advisor, Sowore Allen, said he had never worked with Jegede and would not work with him under any conditions in the 10 October governorship election.
Ajayi, who spoke to Jegede via his media advisor, Sowore Allen, said he had never worked with Jegede and would not work with him under any conditions in the 10 October governorship election.
