The Deputy Governor of Ondo State and gubernatorial candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Mr Agboola Ajayi has reportedly regretted leaving the party.
He was quoted by National Mail to have expressed his thought to a group of confidants after the result announced so far in the gubernatorial election in the state showed that he might not won the election.
Ajayi who doubles as the state’s deputy Governor has changed political party twice in the last five months and contested in two primaries before pitching tent with the ZLP.
Lamenting his political misfortune, the deputy Governor said leaving the ruling APC even at the peak of his persecution was the worst calculation he has made in his political Odyssey.
In Ajayi’s words,: I doubt if I took a wise decision leaving APC for PDP.
Though I was persecuted by the Governor, I knew I could not have fit into the PDP. So, leaving PDP was a good decision for me.”
Asked about his decision to leave PDP for ZLP, Ajayi said he thought he would feel more at home in ZLP, but he is like a stranger in the party where decisions are being taken by only one man.
Agboola Ajayi is currently serving as the Deputy Governor of Ondo State and was elected into office on 26 November 2016 as running mate to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) under the All Progressive Congress (APC) party.
On 21 June 2020, Ajayi resigned his membership from the ruling party APC and defected to the opposition Party People’s Democratic Party (PDP), citing irreconcilable issues between him and his Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and that the APC party “has become a poisoned space” for him.
He then joined Zenith Labour Party after losing the PDP gubernatorial primaries to Eyitayo Jegede. He is currently the gubernatorial candidate of Zenith Labour Party led by former Governor Olusegun Mimiko.
Ajayi started his political career under the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP) and became the Chairman of SDP in Old Opoi Ward 1 from 1988 to 1998. He later joined People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 and was made the Secretary of PDP in Ilaje/Ese Odo LGA between 1998 and 1999.
He was later made the Supervisor for Agriculture for Ese-Odo LGA from 1999 to 2001 and subsequently appointed as Supervisor for Works and Transport for Ese-Odo LGA from 2001 to 2003.
He then went on to become the Caretaker Chairman of Ese Odo LGA between 2003 and 2004 before he was finally elected as the Chairman of Ese-Odo LGA from 2004 to 2007.
He also served as former member of the Federal House of Representatives and represented Ilaje/Ese Odo federal constituency under the PDP. During his time in the House of Rep., Ajayi served as the chairman House Committee on NDDC from 2007 to 2010. Ajayi later decamped from PDP to APC and contested election as the running mate to Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) in the Ondo State Governorship election in November 2016 under the platform of APC.
The pair won the election and were sworn-in as Governor and Deputy Governor of Ondo State on 24 February 2017.
He was said to have had running political battle for months with his boss, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu accusing him of attempting to strangulate his political ambition, citing that acrimonious situation as the main reason why he decamped from APC and defected to PDP.
Ajayi had earlier denied having any problem at all with the Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, and dismissed such rumours and speculations in the past as pure “political propaganda” that was being perpetrated and orchestrated by ‘political jobbers” who were bent on causing crisis.
Today again, Ajayi who is the governorship candidate of ZLP is full of complaints about Dr. Rahman Mimiko and has started doubting his political future with the ZLP should he lose tomorrow, Saturday 10 October 2020 election.
“PDP is a strange land for me. ZLP is a wonderland for me, APC is the homeland for me. And I hope to return home one day,” the deputy Governor lamented privately to a group of confidants.
