Abiodun Aluko, governorship candidate of Accord Party in Ekiti State, has described members declaring open support for the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Olusola, for the July 14 election as people out to allegedly defraud Governor, Ayodele Fayose.
Aluko insisted that he remains the candidate of the party in spite of the open support being shown by Chairman of the party, Mathew Odeoba and a leader of the party and governorship aspirant, Akogun Banji Ojo.
Some Accord members, led by Ojo had on Monday dumped Aluko and backed Olusola, describing the PDP candidate as the right person to succeed his principal, Ayodele Fayose.
The former deputy governor who addressed journalists in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, said: “I have a strong belief that these people only took the action to dupe Governor Fayose”.
He alluded to a letter dated May 23, 2018 and signed by Ojo and the party’s Director of Administration, Aina Olasunkanmi, requesting him to make a refund of N65 million being the amount he had expended to mobilise for the party as an aspirant before the pendulum changed.
He said he rejected the request based on the conviction that it was meant to extort him, since the party has no verifiable structure in the state to buttress Ojo’s claim.
“After my initial refusal, the national body said I should give him a sum of N5million, but he rejected. Rather than paying such huge money, I would rather spend in building structures for Accord and that I have been doing,” he said.
In the letter entitled: ‘Reimbursement Request’, Ojo said: We request for the reimbursement of the expenses incurred in the establishment of Accord and building of the party structure in Ekiti State.
“Therefore, we are requesting for the reimbursement of a sum of N65,750,000.00 to cover the expenses for the running of the party.”
The former Deputy Governor alleged that the aggrieved party members decided to request for such a whopping amount on the strength of their belief that he had billions to spend on the election being a former number two man.
Aluko said: “If Banji Ojo had spent as much as he claimed, why doesn’t the party have structure in the units, wards and local governments? If his claim was right, why did he lose the ticket to Mrs. Margaret Ilesanmi? Because it was this woman that stepped down for me.
“Being a former Deputy Governor, they though I have a mint machine at home whom they thought they could suck.
“So, their opposition to my candidacy has nothing to do with my capability or financial wherewithal, but some people are out to make money from the governor, that was why they have been raising all manner of false allegations to justify their pay.
“We are just trying to build structures at the wards and local governments so that it can be on ground to win election.
“I may not have the whole money to prosecute this election, but I have the goodwill among friends and well wishers who believed in our ability to make a change in the lives of Ekiti, they too shall contribute to our campaign.
“They didn’t have confidence in our ability to win , so they want to collect their gains upfront. So, I remain the candidate and we are committed to the struggle to win this election”.
