Ondo Decides: Lucky Ayedatiwa receives APC’s certificate of return

As the victor of the April 20 primary, Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa has been given the certificate of return by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Nov. 16 Ondo State gubernatorial election.

At a ceremony held in the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja, the certificate was delivered by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the APC.

Ganduje expressed hope that the APC would win the election on November 16 with a resounding victory.

Speaking, Ayedatiwa praised the candidates for being excellent athletes who ran in the April 20 primary.

Ayedatiwa also expressed gratitude to the state’s stakeholders, President Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shetima, the party’s leadership, and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) for their dedication to maintaining the party’s unity.

He commended their efforts and the way they had decided over the party’s affairs even before the Ondo State governorship primary.

“You did decided over a very transparent free and fair primary. I appreciate other aspirants for being a very good sports men and women,” he said.

He added that though there were complaints and petitions after the primary from some aspirants who contested the party’s ticket with him, they were all currently on the same page.
“We all looked at the issues and are today on the same page, we are all winners but one flag bearer.

“And I hereby accept the party’s flag as its flag bearer in the forthcoming Ondo State Nov. 16 governorship election,” he said and assured an inclusive government if returned as the state’s next governor.

He added that he would not forget the level of support he got from the party’s members and the state’s entire community during his tour ahead of the primary.

Speaking on opposition parties in the state, Ayedatiwa said the APC remained the party to beat in Ondo State.

“The APC is the preferred party in Ondo State and we have the support of not just our members, but members of the entire Ondo State community,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Aiyedatiwa scored 48,569 votes to beat his closest rival Mayowa Akinfolarin, who polled 15,343 votes at the primaries, while Olusola Oke came third with 14,865 votes.