The Ondo State Deputy Governor, Mr Agboola Ajayi, has announced his defection to the Zenith Labour Party.
Ajayi, who resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party on Monday, made the announcement on Friday at the ZLP Secretariat in Akure, the state capital, where he was being welcomed by the party leadership and hundreds of party faithful from the 18 local government areas of the state.
Hitherto the defection, Ajayi had been adopted as the candidate of the party for the forthcoming governorship election in October.
Addressing the party faithful, Ajayi said he was contesting under the ZLP platform to change the political narrative of the state, declaring that there would be no room for the All Progressives Congress to rig the forthcoming election.
He said, “I can assure you that nothing will happen on the Election Day; we all own this state. We have joined this party to change the narrative. We are going to make a change in Ondo State.
“They will want to rig the election, but what they are planning is not going to work. It is obvious that the affirmation of Governor (Rotimi) Akeredolu as the candidate of the APC, coupled with the seeming failure of the PDP to produce a dependable and formidable alternative, has dampened the democratic enthusiasm and morale of the people.
“To stir hope and reignite the energy of the progressive electorate, I am teaming up with members of the ZLP, a chunk of most of the other members and my teeming allies from both the PDP and APC.”
Welcoming the defectors, the state chairman of the ZLP, Mr Joseph Akinlaja, affirmed that the deputy governor was the party’s candidate in the October 10 election.
He urged the defectors to go to their various wards and local governments to work for the party and its candidate. Akinlaja noted that Ajayi had registered for the party in his Apoi Ward 2 in Kiribo Ese Odo Local Government.