Ondo 2020: I have no plan to vie for deputy governor – Lawmaker

A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Adedayo Omolafe has dismissed rumours of his intention to join the race for the deputy governorship seat in the state in 2020.He made the rebuttal in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr Michael Adeyeye, on Sunday in Akure amidst the rumours which have gone viral on the social media and some online platforms.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lawmaker was said to have been planning to be the running of the current deputy governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi.

NAN also reports that Ajayi was said to have concluded plan to dump his current party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under whose platform he and Omolafe would contest the election.

However, Omolafe, in the statement, dismissed the rumours, saying that it was baseless, unfounded and a campaign of calumny.

“My attention has been drawn to a rumour flying around, especially on social media and online platforms, on my purported ambition as a possible deputy governorship candidate of our great party.

“I would have ignored such baseless and unfounded allegations but for the purpose of setting the record straight.

“I have received numerous calls and messages from friends, political associates, party faithful and the general public on the authenticity of the unfounded story.

“I want to state unequivocally that the story is untrue and that it is a figment of the imagination of the author,” he said.

The lawmaker enjoined the leaders and members of PDP in the state to consider the report as a joke taken too far by whoever was behind it, adding that it was aimed at distracting the party preparatory to the 2020 governorship election.

“We must be wary of the fifth columnists who are bent on sowing the seed of discord among us and keeping our party divided.

“They want to do everything possible to see us always at daggers’ drawn with one another as part of their grand plan to keep us off track,” Omolafe, who represents Akure North and Akure South Federal Constituency in the lower legislative chamber, added.

He maintained that he was currently preoccupied with the fulfillment of the social contract of qualitative representation which he had with the people of his constituency.

Omolafe, who is the Vice-Chairman, House Committee on Poverty Alleviation, said that he had made a solemn vow to ensure the eradication of abject poverty among the people of his constituency.

“I have pledged to remain committed to this vow without looking back.

“I reaffirm my loyalty to our great party and its resolve to ensure that it presents a credible candidate that will give us a resounding victory at the poll through a credible, democratic and transparent primary election at the due time.

“I will continue to work for the uplift of the people of my constituency and their collective good.

“We have set our hands on the plough and we will not look back, under whatever guise,” the lawmaker pledged.