It was a day of mixed feelings over the weekend when the governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Agboola Ajayi, told leaders of the Arogbo Ijaw community resident in Akure he did not require their votes to be Governor.
The Deputy Governor had sought audience with leaders of thought of Arogbo Ijaw Kingdom ostensibly to secure an endorsement in a meeting facilitated by former National Secretary of Ijaw National Congress (INC), Chief Francis Williams.
But no sooner had the meeting progressed than some youths engaged Ajayi in a bid to extract explanations from him on the shabby treatment meted to Arogbo Ijaws, especially in the distribution of contracts and projects in Ese-Odo Local Government Area.
Rather than provide explanations to the issues raised, particularly his involvement in the legal tussle around a land dispute between the Arogbo Ijaws and Kiribo, Ajayi’s community, the deputy governor said: “I’ve seen it all. I have been a supervisor, council chairman, member of the House of Representatives and I’m now deputy governor.
“Even if the whole of Arogbo Ijaws doesn’t vote for me, I will be Governor if God says I will be Governor. So you should mind the way you address me.”
The Nation