TVC E. The families of the late civilian governors of Ondo State, Adekunle Ajasin and Adebayo Adefarati, have disowned the claim by the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Chief Olusola Oke that they have endorsed his ambition.
Reacting to Oke’s claim in a joint statement signed by the late Adefarati’s son, Mr Gboyega Adefarati, the two families cautioned Oke against what they called name dropping, saying that the AD’s candidate and their fathers had nothing in common in political orientation and moral principle.
The statement read in part: “We take exception to Oke’s claim in political jingles on radio and television and his misleading political campaigns that his political philosophy represented our fathers’
political identities, including claim that our late fathers’ families had endorsed him as the governorship candidate of Ondo State.
“This is clearly a fraud. Nobody in the families of the late leaders ever endorsed Oke because the AD candidate has nothing in common with our fathers.
“Ajasin and Adefarati never flirted with the ruling party before they became governors of the Sunshine State; all they did was to remain in their political camps to realize their ambitions without jumping around for fortunes like Oke is now doing by running away from PDP after the party lost the presidential election in 2015.
“It is on this note that we warn Oke to stop dropping the names of our fathers because he has nothing in common with our noble fathers and the families will never under any circumstance endorse Oke for any leadership position in the state because of his moral burden and political records,” the statement added.
Describing Oke’s claim that he had a dream that the two former governors endorsed his candidacy as “a nightmarish political pressure to con Ondo State people”, the statement added that Oke’s claim was a fraud taken too far, warning that the families would resist the AD’s candidate’s move “to soil the names of their fathers on the altar of political expediency.”
The statement further noted that “Oke’s claim is nothing but hagiography as these families will never endorse any desperate politician who jumps from one party to the other just to contest election.
‘’Oke is only a political demagogue who is out to deceive the unsuspecting voters just to get to power at all costs. Otherwise, how can Oke claim that he has been endorsed by Ajasin and Adefarati political families when the scions of these families are firmly rooted in APC?
Tokunbo and Jumoke Ajasin are APC leaders in Ondo State from Owo division of the state, while Gboyega Adefarati is a symbol of the APC solidarity in Akoko area of the northern Ondo State and we wonder where Oke is getting the support of these leaders who will never betray their party for greener pastures that has become Oke’s pastime,” the statement added.
