The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the November 16, 2024, Ondo State governorship election, Agboola Ajayi, has berated the incumbent governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, for allegedly destroying the Amotekun security outfit established by the late governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
The PDP candidate, during a debate organised by Channels Television on Sunday ahead of the election, said that security in Ondo state has deteriorated under Aiyedatiwa who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“What we have put in now in Ondo State (Amotekun) under the late governor, not just us but the entire South-West region. We looked at what was happening then, kidnapping here and there, and said what can we do?
“I must give it to our late boss, he had the courage and boldness and say we must establish Amotekun which is more or less a state police arrangement. But unfortunately these days, that legacy is almost destroyed by the incumbent governor,” Ajayi said.
Aiyedatiwa, however, denied Ajayi’s claim, saying that he is strengthening the Amotekun Security Corps and will even strengthen it further if he is returned to office.
Ajayi, who was the deputy governor of the state during Akeredolu’s first term in office, recalled how he contributed to the formation of the Amotekun security corps, saying that the current governor isn’t improving the outfit because he does not know how it was formed.
He promised that if elected, he would strengthen the Amotekun with modern security gadgets and equipment so that they could favourably compete with any security outfit in the world.
Meanwhile, Aiyedatiwa maintained that he has done enough to improve security in the state since his assumption of office, saying that Ondo State is now rated as one of the safest and most peaceful states in Nigeria.
However, Ajayi disagreed with the governor’s assertion of Ondo being one of the safest states in the country. According to him, a state where Obas and prominent people are constantly kidnapped cannot be said to be safe.
“A state where Oba has been killed, a state where Obas were kidnapped, a state where the late daughter of Fasoranti was killed. Another embarrassing thing is that Olufon of Ifon was killed gruesomely by unknown persons, up until this moment no single person was arrested,” Ajayi stated.