Ondo 2016: Ondo Elders Exonerate Tinubu of Imposition

Concerned by the outcry against the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, for endorsing Dr. Olusegun Abraham as the preferred aspirant ahead of the August 27 gubernatorial primary of the party, Ondo State indigenes under the umbrella of Akoko Elders Assembly, said Tinubu had not done anything wrong.

The Assembly, which addressed a news conference at the press centre of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said what was done by Tinubu was different from the allegation of imposition being peddled by the people.

Addressing journalists, the chairman of the Assembly, Chief Felix Ayegbusi, who led the Akoko elders, noted that the action could not be described as an imposition since every aspirant in the party still has an opportunity to participate in the primary.

While stating that there was a clear different between “endorsement and imposition”, Ayegbusi said every aspirant reserves a right to seek the endorsement of APC leaders.

He said the move was in tandem with the moves they made earlier to produce a viable candidate from Akokoland.

“For the record, the Assembly, which comprises APC elders from the four local government areas in Akokoland, had earlier endorsed and projected Dr. Abraham out of many Akoko aspirants that indicated interest from the Ondo North senatorial District to emerge as the candidate of the party.

“There is a mischievous campaign in circulation to the effect that the advisory decision of our leaders amounts to an imposition. We are here to disabuse the minds of our members, particularly our delegates, of this misgiving”, he said.

Ayegbusi exonerated Tinubu of the accusations of imposition being levelled against him by one of the governorship aspirants from Akokoland, Dr. Tunji Abayomi.