The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo has alleged that some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) prioritised their aspirations in the state’s governorship election in 2024 over the health status of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

In a statement on Tuesday, its spokesperson, Kennedy Peretie, said some members of APC secretly want Mr Akeredolu to die over claims he could threaten their aspirations.

“Only a few have openly declared that the governor’s return may be injurious to their aspiration and hence secretly wish the governor dead,” Mr Peretie said. “Unfortunately, in spite of medical postulations, only God knows who will be alive in the next minute.”

Mr Peretie asked the state government to come clean and reveal Mr Akeredolu’s health status, adding that residents deserved the information.

“Those with the correct information about Governor Akeredolu’s health status should not give the public opportunity to draw from beer parlour talks and speculations. The people deserve to know as they pray for his quick recovery.

“One is tempted to think that those responsible for the information management of Governor Akeredolu have made nonsense of their assignment, keeping people in the dark until a spatula is put in their mouths to speak,” Mr Peretie said.

Nonetheless, he said the state’s people across party lines genuinely pray for Mr Akeredolu to return to his desk soonest. 

The statement from the PDP came a few hours after the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, revealed that Mr Akeredolu was in a state of “extreme incapacity”.

The Ondo government immediately countered Mr Adamu, saying the governor was not incapacitated.

However, Mr Adamu’s remark has elicited reactions as critics continued to mount pressure on Mr Akeredolu’s aides to reveal the true condition of the governor.