Ondo Poll: Family Counters Akeredolu’s Brother, Denies Supporting SDP Candidate

Less than 24 hours to the Ondo State governorship election, the family of the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has denied media reports of the family’s support for the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Bamidele Akingboye.

The late governor’s younger brother, Olufemi Akeredolu, had on Thursday in Akure, said the family had decided to support the SDP candidate for the election.

The report had generated mixed reactions among the voting public in the state because the late Akeredolu was elected twice on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Also, late Akeredolu’s deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa who succeeded him, is contesting the election on the platform of the APC.

While refuting the younger Akeredolu’s support for the SDP candidate, the head of the family, Prof Oluwole Akeredolu said in a statement that Olufemi spoke for himself and not for the family.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Professor Oluwole Akeredolu (the immediate younger brother of the recently departed Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu) is the head of the Akeredolu Family and solely authorised to speak on behalf of the Family. Neither he nor any of the principal members of the Family has declared support for the SDP. The Akeredolu Family has not declared any such support,” the statement said.

The family, however, said it was aware of Olufemi’s association with the SDP, stressing that other members of the family were not with him.

“We are not unaware of the activities of Olufemi Akeredolu (the youngest of the brothers of the immediate past Governor of Ondo State) and his association with the SDP. He is an adult, an individual with an inalienable right to freedom of association. He does not speak for the Family, neither is he authorised to do so,” it added.

The statement, however, was silent on which of the governorship candidates the family was supporting.

The media had reported a protracted power tussle between Aiyedatiwa and Akeredolu’s immediate family in the months preceding the death of the governor.