BY BUKOLA BARDI & OLUMIDE ABUDU
THE PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY, PDP IN ONDO STATE SAYS IT IS NOT THREATENED BY THE SELF ACCLAIMED THIRD FORCE BY THE ZENITH LABOUR PARTY, ZLP AS PREPARATION FOR THE OCTOBER 10 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION HOTS UP.
PDP’S PUBLICITY SECRETARY, MR KENNEDY PERETEI MADE THIS DECLARATION WHEN HE FEATURED ON POSITIVE F.M’S POLITICAL PODIUM.
MR PERETEI SAID THE THIRD FORCE WAS DEFEATED IN 2019 AND WOULD ALSO BE THRASHED THIS TIME AROUND.
HE SAID “EACH TIME PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THIRD FORCE, IT AMUSES ME, REASON IS THAT, THE THIRD FORCE HAD BEEN EXPERIMENTED BEFORE, IT WAS EXPERIMENTED IN 2019, THE ZLP FIELDED A CANDIDATE FOR THE SENATORIAL ELECTION AND CAME THIRD. THEN IN THE SOUTH AND SOME PART OF THE STATE. THERE WAS WHAT THEY CALLED AA AND IN ALL OF THIS, THEY CAME THIRD, SO I DON’T KNOW WHY PEOPLE ARE GETTING ANXIOUS ABOUT THIS AND IN PRATICAL TERM, THEY WILL COME THIRD ACCORDING TO THEIR NAME”
THE PDP’S SPOKESPERSON SAID AS MUCH AS THE PARTY HAD WISHED ONE OF HIS ASPIRANTS AND DEPUTY GOVERNOR, MR AGBOOLA AJAYI WELL IN HIS GOVERNORSHIP AMBITION, THE PDP LOST NOTHING WITH HIS EXIT.
“THE DEUPTY GOVERNOR IS FROM ESE ODO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT BECAUSE OF OUR SON MENTALITY, HE WILL RUN AWAY WITH TWO WARDS OUT OF TEN AND TWO OVER TEN IS OUTRIGHT FAILURE, AGBOOLA IS BEING OVERATED, HE CANT WIN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ” PERETEI NOTED.
SPEAKING ON THE JEHOVAH WITNESS PREACHING STYLE OF CAMPAIGN BEING ADOPTED BY THE PDP, MR PERETEI EXPLAINED THAT IT WAS IN COMPLIANCE WITH COVID-19 PROTOCOLS WHICH WAS AGAINST CROWDING IN THIS ERA OF PANDEMIC.
ON THE RECENTLY HELD LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION, MR PERETEI SAID THE APC LED GOVERNMENT IN ONDO STATE WAS OUT FOR A CHARADE HENCE THE NON PARTICIPATION OF THE PDP IN THE POLL.
THE PDP CHIEFTAIN HOWEVER GAVE AN ASSURANCE THAT THIS WOULD NOT IN ANY WAY AFFECT THE PROSPECTS OF VICTORY FOR THE PARTY WITH IN THE OCT 10 GOVERNORSHIP POLL AS IT WAS PREPARED TO CRUSH BOTH THE APC AND THE ZLP.