In order for Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the current governor of the state, to secure the All Progressives Congress ticket and win the November 2024 governorship election, no fewer than fifteen members of the Ondo House of Assembly have formally announced their support.

The lawmakers, led by Speaker Olamide Oladiji, said that even though Aiyedatiwa had only been in office for a short while, he had pleased them thus far by carrying on the legacy of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

The endorsement comes a week after a vote of no confidence in the Speaker was approved by some state Assembly members after the Speaker publicly promised Aiyedatiwa that he would have the backing of roughly eighteen lawmakers during the governor’s official announcement to enter the race a few weeks prior.

Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, the majority leader; Moyinolorun Ogunwumiju, the parliamentary secretary; Oluwarotimi Fasonu, the chief whip; Olajide Oguntodu, the minority leader; and Raymond Daodu, the deputy minority leader, were among the enraged members who disassociated themselves from the display of partisan politics.

Agbulu Akeem, Christopher Ayebusiwa, Atinuke Witherspoon, Biola Oladapo, Ifabiyi Olatunji, Akinsuroju Nelson, and Afe Felix were also included.

When Oladiji met with reporters on Monday at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, he was indignant and said the governor had done more than enough to earn the endorsement.

Accompanied by a group of fifteen state legislators, the Speaker declared that the governor had made salary payments a priority, initiated the hiring of around 2,000 healthcare professionals, and upheld friendly relations with the state’s legislature and judiciary.

He said, “We are here to tell you that as far as we are concerned, those of us here and our members, who are on their way, are fully in support of the continuity of the APC-led government.

“We are in support of continuity. We believe it will work out and we are giving them 100 per cent assurance that the primary elections will be peaceful.

“In respect of the letter that few members of the House of Representatives wrote to Mr. President (concerning Aiyedatiwa endorsement), our members here disagree with the letter.

“That’s also because we are honourable members in our various state constituencies. We have almost 15 of us here present. Do you know what it means? We have 22 APC members in the House of Assembly.

“We are 13 here now and another two are on their way coming; so that makes 15 of us. And we are telling you that the state under the leadership of Mr. Governor is at peace.

“Maybe I should put the question to my members. Do we have anyone of you who wants to contest against Aiyedatiwa? His achievements, the achievements of the incumbent governor are out there.

“Presently, he has started the recruitment of 2,000 workers in the academic sector, and at the same time, he has worked at the ODRS (Ondo State Revenue Service).

“The most important thing is that he did not stop the legacy started by the late governor. He directed all the contractors to go back to the site, which everybody in the state applauded. There is a synergy now between the executive, the judiciary, and the legislature.”

APC National Chairman Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje welcomed the group and gave the assurance that the ruling party will provide all candidates running for governor of the state equal opportunities before the party’s primaries the following month.

Ganduje further remembered how, just before Akeredolu passed away, he and President Bola Tinubu were forced to intervene in the political standoff between the lawmakers and Aiyedatiwa.

He said, “We can’t disconnect legislators from the office of the party here in Abuja because there is always a relationship between you and the office. I call upon you to cooperate with us as we conduct the primary election.

“In this year’s election in Ondo, there are many things that must happen according to our programme, starting with verification of members, screening of aspirants, purchase of Expression of Interest and Nomination forms, and the primaries to pick candidates.

“Ondo State is an APC state and will continue to maintain it. We need your cooperation to conduct a free and transparent primary. We believe our members are equal to the task.

“What we are seeing here is that there would be cooperation, good synergy with state Assembly members. We have planned a well-articulated programme for the primary to produce a candidate.”