Ahead of 2019 general elections, Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi will seek the senatorial ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Oyo South, it has been learnt.
The official launch of his senatorial ambition was unveiled at the weekend in Ido Local Government Area.
Commissioner for Education, Prof Adeniyi Olowofela, is also seeking the partyโs ticket to House of Representatives to represent Ido/Ibarapa East Federal Constituency.
Ajimobi represented Oyo South in the Senate between 2003 and 2007 on the platform of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD).
He was the candidate of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) in the 2007 governorship election.
At an elaborate event at the home of a leader of the party, Alhaji Kamorudeen Ajisafe, a governorship aspirant in the state, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), advised APC aspirants for all political offices to be patient to pay their dues.
He said: โIn the camp of progressives, you have to pay your dues and pass through political tutelage. In 2010, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at an event here in this local government with Senator Ajimobi and other leaders of Action Congress seated advised me to show interest in the governorship race.
โI politely turned it down. I knew it wasnโt my turn. Governor Ajimobi wasnโt governor then but I know I should not jump the gun.
โOur governor has also paid his dues under the late Lam Adesina. Nobody can dispute that he was a Lamist.
โIdo Local Government Area is launching the campaign to endorse him to go to Senate and by the grace of God, he shall make it.
โOf course, this isnโt his first time. In his first time, he wasnโt a bench warmer there as he gave quality representation. In the Senate, he will be a pride to Oyo state and the south-west.โ
Akintola further attributed the growing number of contenders for the
APC governorship ticket to the peaceful environment nurtured for politics and economic development to thrive by the Oyo state governor.
โThere is no state that parades array of aspirants for governorship ticket like Oyo state. What is responsible for this? โIt is because there is peace, Governor Ajimobi has created a conducive atmosphere.
If it were in those dark days, a lot of us wouldnโt come out to say we want to run. Even those who cannot win their unit are aspiring to be governor. The more, the merrier. So, let us cooperate with the government to succeed and we also pray for him to get theirs.
โAjimobi is a gold, we cannot afford to go replace him with a silver.
