• Tuesday, April 23, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Akeredolu didn’t win 2016 governorship election, we rigged him in – Ex-SSG

Untitled design – 2020-07-06T204327.192

Less than 12 hours after his sudden resignation, Ifedayo Abegunde, immediate past secretary to the Rotimi Akeredolu-led Ondo State government, has spilled the beans on how the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Governor Akeredolu rigged the 2016 governorship election against the will of the Ondo state electorate using the federal might.

READ ALSO:  Ondo 2020: Akeredolu’s cabinet depletes further as SSG, Abegunde, resigns ahead governorship poll

Abegunde, who featured on a live radio programme on Crest 87.7 FM in Akure, Ondo State capital, hours after his sudden resignation, declared that he decided to resign his position because the Akeredolu-led APC in the state was fast losing popularity and people’s acceptance due to the governor’s high-handedness, selfishness and dictatorial behaviour which have brought the state backward.
“Akeredolu didn’t win the election in 2016 but we made it possible for him to become governor. We were the pillars behind him and we will not support him again. He will lose this time around.

“The government of Akeredolu is making the entire people of the state to suffer and I cannot be part of that any longer. Everyone is suffering. He doesn’t pay salaries at the right time. As a matter of fact, Akeredolu has not performed to the expectations of the masses apart from the roads he is building.

“Akeredolu has turned former Governor Olusegun Mimiko to a saint with his own abysmal performance. We now see that Mimiko did well as governor because he gave his people enough funds to enable them cater for the needs of their own supporters. I had worked with three governors, and I can say that in the history of Ondo state, Akeredolu is the worst governor.

“Akeredolu has reduced the government to the property of his wife, son and in-laws from Imo state. All the contracts in the state are being given to his wife, son and the people from Imo state,” he said.

Speaking on how he was maltreated in Akeredolu’s cabinet which prompted the reason behind his resignation, Abegunde revealed the sufferings he underwent for three and a half years of his secretaryship, saying the hardships were too much as he was unable to cater for the needs of all his followers because the governor didn’t release any money or grants for his office.