The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied endorsing Governor Rotimi Akeredolu for a second term.
Mr Akeredolu, who is believed to have a patchy relationship with party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, and party leader Bola Tinubu, was among the APC governors that had a meeting with members of the NWC at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Monday.
Speculations then surfaced that the party’s top hierarchy endorsed Akeredolu as its consensus candidate.
However, in a statement Tuesday night, the NWC said a recent statement credited to an Ondo State political group called Unity Mandate Agenda alleging both the national chairman and NWC members of endorsing Mr Akeredolu as their recognised governorship aspirant in the July 20 primary in the state, is false.
“This is indeed a grievous falsehood intended to create disaffection among our members,” APC spokesperson, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said.
“We hereby refute this spurious statement and wish to state unequivocally that neither the National Chairman nor any member of the Party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has the power to endorse any aspirant.
“The APC is not in the business of endorsing aspirants. As a progressive party, our ultimate guiding principle is strict adherence to the tenets of participatory democracy.
“Our members in Ondo State and elsewhere should ignore this unfounded report. As we move close to governorship primaries in both Edo and Ondo States, it should be expected that mischief makers would do their worst to impugn on the process. As always, they would fail in this current campaign.”
Like the Edo chapter of the party, the Ondo APC is also split into factions. One faction is loyal to Mr Akeredolu while the other is opposed to his re-election.
The APC primary in Ondo holds on July 20 while the governorship election holds on October 10.
