Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), a two-time candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, has announced his withdrawal from the forthcoming 2024 governorship election.
Jegede, who was the PDP candidate in the 2016 and 2020 elections, respectively, noted that he was committed to making all necessary sacrifices to provide solutions to the party’s problems rather than compounding them.
Speaking in Akure, the state capital, while addressing his teeming supporters across the state’s 18 local government areas, the PDP chieftain said he was more committed to ensuring the party’s victory at the poll.
His words: “After several intensive and extensive consultations, consolidations, and reconsiderations, it became obvious that we need to reexamine whether to proceed or take a detour that could guarantee an alignment with the preponderance of opinion in terms of the quest for equitable representation, equity, and fair play particularly at the level of governorship.
“Our party constitution is not receptive to zoning, and this has been demonstrated through the election of successive Governors; the elections were not based on zoning but on merit.
“The event of today has become expedient in the face of the upcoming potential activities in our state and the party. A decision has to be taken whether we need to repeat the same process that we passed through in 2016 and 2020.
“We have an array of governorship aspirants who are competent and distinguished in their various callings; we also have those who have shown exceptional qualities, including consistency and unalloyed loyalty to the party.
“I feel it is time to allow these men the opportunity to try their luck in the primary and, by God’s grace, ultimately win the governorship election; all the aspirants would be accorded every support that is available at my disposal.”
