Ondo ADC candidate denies pact with governor after APC ticket setback
Ayo Akinyelure, the African Democratic Congress candidate for Ondo Central, says his meeting with Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa was only to establish whether he could obtain the APC’s 2027 senatorial ticket. He says the governor told him the ticket had already been allocated, leaving no basis for a political alliance.
The African Democratic Congress candidate for Ondo Central Senatorial District, Ayo Akinyelure, has denied reaching a political agreement with Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa. Akinyelure said his recent meeting with the governor was intended to clarify whether he could still obtain the All Progressives Congress ticket to seek a return to the Senate in 2027. He said the discussion was not a negotiation for support or personal benefits.
Speaking at a media conference in Akure on Wednesday, he said the meeting had prompted speculation that Aiyedatiwa might be working with the ADC candidate. The speculation followed photographs of the two men with other dignitaries after a church service at the Government House Chapel. Akinyelure said the governor told him the APC had already decided who would receive the Ondo Central ticket and that he would not be considered.
He said he appreciated the governor’s direct response because it avoided an unfulfilled promise of support. “The governor told me they had already considered who they wanted to give the ticket to and that I could not get it,” Akinyelure said. He added that the discussion did not produce a political pact.
A former senator, Akinyelure represented Ondo Central in the 7th and 9th National Assemblies. He left the APC in May and joined the ADC, saying he had been denied a fair opportunity to contest for the APC ticket. He said the ADC offered him a platform to remain politically active and continue seeking to represent the district.
Akinyelure said his move was not part of an arrangement with Aiyedatiwa or a wider plan against the APC. He urged voters to judge him by his record rather than party affiliation, saying people in Ondo Central could support him regardless of whether they belonged to the APC, ADC, Labour Party or SDP.
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