Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has reiterated his stance on Southern presidency, describing the insinuations in certain quarters that he is backing a presidential aspirant, as untrue.
The Governor in a statement made available to newsmen by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, affirmed the need for power rotation to the South after the completion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term in office.
This comes as a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu equally told Ogun delegates that it is his turn to become the President of Nigeria come 2023, while boasting of his giant strides in the aspiration of Buhari as President of Nigeria in 2015.
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“Our attention has just been drawn to a statement widely circulated and credited to the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, purportedly endorsing a particular presidential aspirant under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The statement, largely laced with partisan interest and fluid narrative was not authored by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN. The intention of the writer, though juvenile, was to drag the Governor into unnecessary declarations, despite public knowledge of his position as the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum.
“Nevertheless, Governor Akeredolu has continued to reiterate the stance of his brother Governors in the Southern Nigeria Governors’ Forum on the need for the south to produce the next President of the country in the spirit of equity and fairness.
“In clear terms, the widely circulated statement never emanated from Governor Akeredolu. It was, obviously, driven by overzealous partisan interests calculated to exploit the political capital of the Governor for personal gains.
“The Governor urged members of the public, particularly, members of the APC and the party supporters to disregard the statement as it does not represent the collective decision of the Southern Governors’ Forum which Governor Akeredolu leads,” the statement read.