Ondo Poll: Ajasin, Adefarati Families Disown Oke’s Claim to Candidacy

James Sowole in Akure
The families of the late civilian Governors of Ondo State, Chief Adekunle Ajasin and Adebayo Adefarati, have disowned the claim by the gubernatorial candidate of the Alliance for Democracy, Chief Olusola Oke, that they have endorsed his gubernatorial ambition.

The position of the two families was expressed in a joint statement signed by the late Adefarati’s son, Gboyega Adefarati, where the families of the late governors cautioned Oke against dropping the names of their patriarchs, stressing that the AD’s governorship candidate and their fathers had nothing in common in political orientation and moral principle.

 “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 claiming 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’s 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 realise 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,” Adefarati said.

Describing Oke’s claim that he had a dream that the three former governors endorsed his candidacy as “a nightmarish political pressure to con Ondo State people”, Adefarati  added that Oke’s claim was a fraud taken too far, warning that the families would resist the AD’s candidate “to soil the names of their fathers on the altar of political expediency.

 “Oke’s claim is nothing but fraud as these three 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,” he said.

The statement advised Oke to sell his programmes to the electorate “instead of dropping the names of the legends who stood for politics of integrity, consistency and development, which Oke’s antecedents are diametrically opposed to. Gboyega Adefarati added that “it is ironic however  that the same Oke who was part of the conspiracy to rig my father out of office, is now clamming to be his  political son.”

The statement enjoined voters to “beware of political shenanigans with sugar-coated mouths who are only out to deceive them”, adding that nothing would change the support of the  three families for Akeredolu in the November 26 governorship election.