Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has insisted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election was held in the state ahead of the November governorship poll.
The governor, who spoke with State House Correspondents, yesterday, after the opening ceremony of an Economic and Financial Inclusion programme at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, maintained that those alleging that the election was not held in the state were only indulging in hearsay.
Aiyedatiwa also said that those alleging that the election did not hold must prove, just as he said that he had begun to reach out to those who contested with him on the need to go into the election with a united front.
The governor, while fielding a question on what he has been doing since he won the APC primary, said: “Yes, the election has come and gone. We are all winners; all the 16 aspirants. I will call them family members because it’s a family affair. We were just looking for a flagbearer among us and a flagbearer has emerged. And other members of the family, the aspirants, we have to work together.
“There’s no any grandstanding. It’s not a politics of calumny. So, we relate very well.
“In a contest like that, some may be having grudges with the way the system runs. The complaint we have from some of them is that the election was not totally free and fair, there were no elections in some places and all of that. You can only be in one place at a time. I went to my ward and I was counted and the election took place in my ward. I cannot speak of other wards.”
“So, those who are complaining, it’s just hearsay. The election took place. So, if you’re complaining of some other irregularities, I don’t know. So, who alleges must prove. But in all, APC is our party; we must work together to ensure that we are victorious in the November election.”
Aiyedatiwa, who spoke on the programme, stressed the need for economic and financial inclusion of rural dwellers. He said the Federal Government must work with state governors and the private sector drivers to deploy requisite technology to bring rural dwellers into the nation’s financial cycle.
