Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ondo State, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), has appealed to his teeming supporters across the state not to allow unprovoked attacks from the ruling party to deter them from coming out to vote on October 10.
He made the appeal on Thursday in Oba-Akoko in Akoko South-West Local Government area, two days after his campaign tour of the community was disrupted by gun-shooting hoodlums in the convoy of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
During the Tuesday attacks, no fewer than 15 vehicles in the convoy of the PDP were badly damaged, while gun-totting APC thugs also attempted the lives of Jegede and his campaign members.
But in his return visit to the community amidst a tumultuous crowd, the governorship candidate said, “My people of Oba-Akoko, and our people in Ondo State generally; don’t allow these violent people in power to frighten you from coming out to vote on October 10.
“They have already heard the result of the election through mass rejection and they think the only straw they can hang on to, is to unleash violence on the people.
“But don’t be dismayed and don’t let them put you at home on election day. Come out and vote and reject them with your votes.”
Jegede also assured people of the area that if voted in as governor, the exorbitant tuition fees introduced to Ondo’s higher institutions would be cancelled, as education is the heritage of Ondo State.
He similarly promised to open up rural communities through road infrastructure and provision of farm inputs to boost farm produce.
Speaking during the rally, a former chairman of the PDP in Ondo State, Chief Clement Faboyede, condemned the continued attacks on PDP members by thugs loyal to Governor Akeredolu, but said the party would not be deterred, realising how the people were determined for a change of government.
Complementing him, the current chairman, Hon. Fatai Adams, recalled that “during the 2019 House of Assembly elections, the APC (All Progressives Congress) thugs and shock troops invaded same Oba-Akoko, maimed and killed people, and in this election, they have started a repeat show of what they are best at.”
Speaking earlier, an octogenarian community leader in Oba-Akoko, Chief Ezekiel Adeniyi, deplored how the ruling party had often turned the town to a battle ground “each time there is election”.
“They feel that the best way to win our heart is to intimidate us, but we are no fools; we know where we are going,” Adeniyi declared.
He, however, commended Jegede’s maturity and show of affection for the masses, assuring that the community had resolved “to do the needful”.