Agboola Ajayi: Ondo Deputy Governor joins ZLP

Ondo State deputy governor, Mr Agboola Ajayi, said he joined the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), to give hope to the masses of the state ahead of the October 10 gubernatorial election.

Ajayi stated this on Friday in Akure when he was welcomed officially into the party by the Chairman of the party, Mr Joseph Akinlaja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Ajayi had defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic (PDP), where he lost the party's ticket to the party's flag-bearer, Mr Eyitayo Jegede.

Ajayi later joined the ZLP and had just been welcomed to the party, hoping to become the flag-bearer of the party in the October 10 governorship election.

"I do not depend on anybody. We depend on God, I will not shame you.

"We own this state together, I have come to join ZLP to give hope to the hopeless, to change the narrative and I have come with all my supporters," he said.

Ajayi said plans to rig the coming election would not work, urging his supporters to defend their votes come October 10.

The deputy governor said he was humbled by the call to service by the people of the state and critical stakeholders to rescue the ship of the state from sinking further under Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

The Chairman of the Party, Mr Joseph Akinlaja, while welcoming Ajayi to the party, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be fair in the conduct of the forthcoming gubernatorial election to avoid induced violence.

Akinlaja appealed to the youth not to allow themselves to be used as thugs, urging politicians to moderate their activities not to encourage violence in any form, saying, 'lives of our people matter'.