The Governor of Ondo State, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, has said that any presidential candidate the Ruling All Progressive Congress chooses for the 2023 presidential election would be his candidate.
He stressed that his visit to a former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has nothing to do with the 2023 election.
He said he was in London to see Tinubu and he was sure that the rumours flying around on the social media was not true.
The governor gave the explanation on his London trip while speaking on a monitored Arise TV programme, on Sunday.
Akeredolu, who described the former Lagos State Governor as the ‘capon’ in the South, said he (Tinubu ) was expected to return to the country soon, so as to meet with him and be able to take certain critical decisions.
Asked if he will support Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the party in 2023, Akeredolu said, “APC is a party. APC will decide who the candidate will be. I have said it several times. I’m going no where. If I leave APC, I am going back to my chamber. For me, whatever APC decides, I will follow.
“We went to London because It was important for us to go and see for ourselves. How he’s doing. He’s the capon for us here. But the time he comes, we can make some serious decisions.”
The governor also promised to appoint more commissioners to his cabinet next month.
Since the beginning of his second term in office, which commenced in February this year, the governor has only appointed four commissioners and few special advisers. The appointed commissioners include- the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, the Commissioner for Finance, the Commissioner for Works and Housing and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
He, however, explained that he had not breached the constitution with the appointment of the four commissioners and few special advisers, maintaining that the decision on the number of commissioners to be appointed lies with him.
“There is no provision that says what amount to full compliment of the cabinet only the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice is stated there.
“The number of who will work with me will be decided by me. Come early next month we will have more commissioners. I’m to determine the number of commissioner that I will want to work with. I will have to put in more people come next month. But it can’t be as many as it was in the first term because the finances of the state is badly affected,” the governor said.
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