Four days to the governorship election in Ondo State, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Mr Peter Fasua, has withdrawn from the race and declared his support for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
This came a few hours after the Chairman of the SDP, Mr Dele Ogunbameru, led the chairmen of 10 other political parties to announce their support for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Eyitayo Jegede.
The development implies that the SDP has partly supported the candidates of the two major political parties in the state and that the party no longer has a candidate for the governorship election.
Fasua, while announcing his decision, on Tuesday in Akure, the state capital, said, “I decided to step down and support Governor Akeredolu as I am convinced that my desires and plans for Ondo State will be achieved totally by Governor Akeredolu.”
The educationist expressed his readiness to mobilize the structure of his party and his supporters across the state for Akeredolu’s re-election. He also announced the donation of campaign coaster buses and other material to the governor’s campaign organization.
Meanwhile, the deputy governorship candidate of the SDP, Mrs Rachel Ajayi, has announced her decision to support the PDP, Punch reports.
Ajayi, who spoke in Akure on Tuesday, said she backed the decision of her party to support the PDP in the election, adding that she was not part of the position taken by Fasua.
She stated, “I am a party person, and I queue behind any position taken by my party and its leadership. The party has decided to support the Peoples Democratic Party as relayed by our state Chairman, Prince Dele Ogunbameru, and that is okay by me.
“Fasua has never called me for once, and he has not been carrying the party along in all his programmes. Everything about him is business, he is not prepared for this election, and he has always been acting as an agent of the APC as revealed even during the governorship debate.”
“To me, he should have contested under the APC. The party is supreme, and we are candidates sponsored by the party since we are not independent candidates. I do not support any activities that would undermine the supremacy of the party.”