The Ondo State governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has received his certificate of return as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 16 election in the sunshine state.
Aiyedatiwa, who received the certificate of return at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Monday, appealed to all the 15 aspirants that contested against him in the April 20, 2024 direct governorship primary election of the ruling party to join hands with him to win at the main election.
Addressing journalists after receiving the certificate, the Ondo State governor said he had been on consultation with the other aspirants since after the primaries and their meeting with the APC National Working Committee (NWC).
Aiyedatiwa also assured that he was abiding by the resolutions of the last interface with the NWC and other aspirants, including the need for inclusivity, saying some appointments have not been made and would address that.
“Today, the exercise has been completed with the presentation of certificate of return to me. Today I have become the candidate of our great party. I thank President Bola Tinubu for the leadership he has provided, Vice President Kashim Shettima for supporting the leadership, the national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, for ensuring that we have a successful primaries. I thank the other aspirants for showing sportsmanship. My arms are wide open to them for us to go into the election as one,” he stated.
Presenting the certificate to Aiyedatiwa, the national chairman of APC said Ondo will witness unprecedented development under the APC administration of the incumbent governor because of the sequence of continuity he has passed through.
“There is no doubt I am happy because you are also happy. I’m happy because today is the day that we are presenting certificate of return to our gubernatorial candidate for Ondo State election comes November this year.
“And coincidentally, he was a deputy governor, he was an acting governor, he is a governor today, he will be a governor tomorrow. Ondo state will witness unprecedented development because of this sequence of continuity,” Ganduje stated.