Agboola Ajayi, a former deputy governor to the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has been declared the winner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial primary election in the state.
Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the deputy governor of Bayelsa, who chaired the electoral committee that supervised the poll, announced the results on Thursday in Akure, the state capital.
Ewhrudjakpo said Ajayi scored 264 votes to defeat other aspirants.
“By virtue of the results, Ajayi Alfred Agboola having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of this primary and hereby declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the November 2024 election and is hereby returned as the candidate,” he said.
Ajayi was the candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in the 2020 governorship election and also served as deputy governor of Ondo state from 2017 to 2021.
Kolade Akinjo, who came second in the election scored 157 votes while Olusola Ebiseni polled 99 votes to clinch the third position.
On June 21, 2020, Ajayi, a lawyer and businessman, resigned his membership from the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the PDP.
He cited irreconcilable differences between him and his principal, the late Rotimi Akeredolu, the former governor of Ondo.
He then joined ZLP after losing the PDP gubernatorial primary to Eyitayo Jegede and became the candidate of the party in 2020.
Ajayi had served as a councillor, chairman of Ese-Odo LGA, and house of representatives member before he was nominated by the late Akeredolu as his deputy in 2016.
