Ondo: Akeredolu Calls For Probe Of Ex-SSG For ‘Rigging 2016 Election’

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has urged Security agencies to probe the former Secretary-General of the state, Sunday Abegunde,  for claiming he helped in ‘rigging the 2016 election’ that made him governor of the state.

The former SSG had insinuated that the 2016 elections was rigged in favour of Mr Akeredolu during an interview in a radio station in the state.

He said: “Akeredolu didn’t win the election in 2016 but we made it possible for him to become governor.

Reacting to the claim in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, Mr Akeredolu said the allegations must be investigated.

“Mr Governor, as an avid believer in democracy, rule of law and legality, is not a beneficiary of the fraud Abegunde and his unnamed co-horts allegedly perpetrated during the 2016 governorship election.

He further disclosed that he had never supported electoral fraud and would not do so in the forthcoming coming election.

“Abegunde’s outbursts are weighty confessions that must be investigated by security agencies. Anything to the contrary will only encourage future acts as contained in the confessions. Such brazen anti-democratic acts are unambiguously grave dangers to our fledgling electoral system.”

Mr Abegunde has however clarified the statement he made stressing that he never said the election was rigged.

He said:  “I wish to reiterate that at no time did I say that the PDP won the 2016 election. That’s far from the truth. The APC won with a wide margin so that the PDP thought it fruitless to join issues on it at the court of law.

“However, I only stressed that it was a steady and concerted efforts of our loyal party stalwarts of which I was prominent that won that election.

“I said Governor Akeredolu was not the one that won the election, that we the people won the election for him. That we contributed all our efforts. At the end of the day, he thought it wise, thinking that he owns the government. And he’s now using the government for himself, his family and his associates.”