Ondo: ‘Aiyedatiwa denied me ‘venue’ to campaign’, says Ajayi

Ondo State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Agboola Ajayi has accused Lucky Aiyedatiwa of denying him a venue to flag off his campaign.

A statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity of the PDP Campaign Organisation, Mr Ayo Fadaka on Saturday, specifically said Aiyedatiwa denied them permission to use popular Democracy Park, Akure, the state capital to flag off campaign ahead of November 16 governorship election.

The statement was titled “Our campaign flag off and Aiyedatiwa’s pettiness.”

The statement reads, “We wish to bring to the notice of the good people of Ondo State that our campaign flagoff is slated for October 15, 2024. Given the above, we applied to the government for the use of the Democracy Park, the usual arena that mandatorily hosts such events and the Aiyedatiwa administration has decided to deny the PDP the use of the park, the first time any administration will prosecute such a cheap and petty goal.

“To say we did not anticipate this pedestrian action, will only indicate that we have not taken deep cognisance of the indecorous approach of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to governance

“We recall that in years late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was in power, not once was any political party denied use of public space. That was a statesman, now Ondo State is unlucky to have a worse variant in its saddle, this degeneracy must be taken care of.

“We, however, declare that we are going to hold our campaign flag-off in Akure, as people from across the state and nation will grace the event. We regret whatever inconvenience our gathering may have and apologise in advance, however please note that the irresponsibility of the pedestrian government is the cause.”

Reacting, the state Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Steve Otaloro, described the allegation of the PDP as untrue and mischievous.