Bayelsa State Deputy Governor and Chairman of Ondo state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has assured that his party will emerge victorious at the November 16 gubernatorial election in the state.

Ewhrudjakpo, who chaired the seven-man committee set up by the leadership of the PDP to conduct the primary of the party in Ondo State, said judging by his antecedent in Osun state where PDP emerged the winner of the gubernatorial election in 2022 after he led the team that conducted the primary, he was sure the same feat would be recorded in Ondo by November.

The Deputy Governor stated this while speaking with journalists during the scheduled primary election of the party currently going on at the DOME, in Akure, the state capital.

At the well organised exercise, Ewhrudjakpo said: “We are in Ondo state for the conduct of the PDP gubernatorial primaries, where we have seven aspirants and you know electoral rules require that for a candidate to emerge in any party, primaries should be conducted.

“Three forms of primaries are provided for in the Electoral Act 2022, namely direct, indirect and consensus primaries. But here today, we are adopting the indirect primaries. We expect about 627 delegates for the election and we are all set, all members of the panel are here, the accreditation has started. So, we are prepared and the aspirants are in high spirits and they have assured me that they would agree to work together for whoever emerged as the candidate.”

Noting that all the aspirants are aware that only unity can earn the party its desired victory in November, the Chairman of the committee disclosed that all those participating in the primary election have given their commitment to embrace whoever emerged at the end of the election in the interest of the party.

According to him: “The problem of our party is how to get the power back from the All Progressives Congress (APC), that had taken it from us for the past eight years.

“We expect a very transparent, free, fair, credible and rancour free election, and I have gotten commitment of all the aspirants that they would abide by the outcome. Whereas, we are going to make it as transparent as possible.

“You may be aware of my record that I was the one who conducted the primaries in Osun state and we eventually won in Osun. I’m here again to conduct the Ondo state primaries and by the grace of God, we are going to win, because the sun of last year is still the same of this year, so the rain will fall and the farmers would have good harvest.”