- Ajayi served as deputy governor to late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in his first tenure in office from 2016 to 2020 before they fell out.
- The election was keenly contested among the seven aspirants, and no fewer than 621 delegates from the 18 local government areas of the state participated in the shadow election.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has proclaimed Agboola Ajayi, a former deputy governor of Ondo, the victor of the state’s gubernatorial primary election.
In Akure, the state capital, the results were declared on Thursday by Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the deputy governor of Bayelsa and the head of the electoral body that oversaw the vote.
According to Ewhrudjakpo, Ajayi defeated rival candidates with 264 votes.
“By virtue of the results, Ajayi Alfred Agboola having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of this primary and hereby declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the November 2024 election and is hereby returned as the candidate,” he said.
Ajayi was the candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in the 2020 governorship election and also served as deputy governor of Ondo state from 2017 to 2021.
Kolade Akinjo, who came second in the election scored 157 votes while Olusola Ebiseni polled 99 votes to clinch the third position.
On June 21, 2020, Ajayi, a lawyer and businessman, resigned his membership from the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the PDP.
He cited irreconcilable differences between him and his principal, the late Rotimi Akeredolu, the former governor of Ondo.
He then joined ZLP after losing the PDP gubernatorial primary to Eyitayo Jegede and became the candidate of the party in 2020.
Ajayi had served as a councillor, chairman of Ese-Odo LGA, and house of representatives member before he was nominated by the late Akeredolu as his deputy in 2016.