It is now 43 days since the primaries of our party held. As you are aware, a measure of misunderstanding have trailed the exercise which led to high tempers and an intractable delay in the announcement of our candidate and commencement of our campaigns.
You will recall that I was one of the aspirants of our party who protested the result of the primaries won by Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN. My supporters from all the 18 LGs and I consulted widely and based on facts available to us, elected to seek redress through the internal mechanism of the party designed for such.
It was rather unfortunate that in the course of the rising tension emanating from the primaries and the appeals, there have been undue media comments and attention which have externalised and sensationalised what ordinarily ought to have been a simple, internal party exercise or procedure.
What happened within Ondo State APC was not more than a disagreements among patriots over a highly competitive and keenly contested primaries. I wish to put on record that all the contestants were men and a woman who felt genuinely concerned about the parlous and regrettable state of our state today. Each of us have the zeal, the passion and fervour for rescuing this land from the 8 year misrule of PDP which have relegated our citizens to poverty and misery.
As a true democrat, I have always been conscious of the fact that in any election, though contestants may be many, a winner must emerge. We have also always known that one of the cardinal responsibilities of every contestant in any election is to show sportsmanship and magnanimity by working with the winner’s team to achieve glory for our party in the final analysis.
I therefore wish to use this medium to praise the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who is also the leader of our party, his Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari GCFR for his sincerity, fairness, transparency and honesty in this matter.
In the same vein, I wish to appreciate the leadership of our great party, particularly the National Working Committee and its Chairman Dr John Odigie-Oyegun for their forbearance, fairness, maturity and responsiveness in dealing with the issues.
I also wish to thank the candidate of our Party, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN for his fortitude, maturity, humility and courage to seek and drive a quick, lasting and enduring reconciliation process . My gratitude also go our co- contestants, particular my colleague and brother, the distinguished Senator Omotayo Alasoadura, Dr Tunji Abayomi, Rt. Hon Victor Olabimtan and others who have also demonstrated unprecedented love for Ondo state, our party and the course of democracy by labouring to facilitate reconciliation and confidence
Though it is the desire of the opposition to see discord, disaffection and crack in our party especially after the primaries, I wish to put the opponent on notice here and now that it has failed. This house of APC, in Ondo state will stand united, resolute and strong. It will go ahead and win the next month election against the PDP and redeem our people.
Gentlemen of the Press, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN, his team and I and mine have met a couple of times after the primaries. We have been discussing our differences. Other great leaders of this party have also interacted with me and we have shared ideas about the issues emanating from the primaries as well as the way out. At all of those times, we were united on the fact that Ondo state people needs help. And that public interest must at all times be above personal desires.
It is therefore in the light of all these as well as as the utmost desire to protect, preserve and develop our party that I Professor Robert Ajayi Borrofice wish to announce to you and all Nigerians today that I accept the decision of our party’s NWC affirming Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN as the Ondo state APC Governorship candidate for the November 2016 elections. My supporters and I view, accept and congratulate him as our party’s flagbearer.
We will work with him and for him totally and patriotically to ensure victory For our party at the elections. This reconciliation is total and unconditional. Our party is supreme, Discipline and integrity is supreme just as the voice of the people is.
As I have always reiterated, I am a true partyman. I believe in our great Party, the APC. I will never abandon it for any reason. I will always remain in it to sustain and strengthen it for the sake of Ondo state and Nigeria. I hereby direct all members and supporters of our group throughout the state to make themselves and all their resources available for our party and its candidate to pursue a successful campaigns.
The urgent need to rescue our people in Ondo State from the clutches of the mindless, clueless and ineffectual PDP government is bigger and far more important than personal consideration and interests.
I wish to inform all members of APC and indeed the entire electorates in Ondo state that the survival and prosperity or otherwise of this state begins with what we make out of next month’s election. Nigeria’s current regime of Peace and security, reduction in corrupt practices and clear efforts to salvage its economy are dividend of working together to install a good government.
In Ondo state we can do even better. We must think anew and act anew. Ladies and gentlemen, there is work to be done. Let’s go out and do it !
I thank you ladies and gentlemen.
