Former Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi said on Thursday that he was focusing on retrieving his senatorial mandate in court, rather than pursuing ministerial appointment.
He stressed that serving at the Senate is his personal preference.
The former governor denied that he rejected ministerial appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari, saying he was not offered the appointment in the first place.
He spoke in a telephone chat with The Nation yesterday.
Reports on social media yesterday suggested that he rejected a ministerial appointment offered him by the President.
The report added that Ajimobi said the appointment should go to a younger member of the party.
But the former governor told The Nation that it was impossible to reject what was not offered.
He said he only expressed his personal choice for the Senate, stressing that it was the reason he was committed to the petition his party filed against Senator Kola Balogun at the tribunal.
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The Balogun was declared the winner of the Oyo South Senatorial District election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The elected senator contested on the platform of People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Ajimobi is of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ajimobi said he, however, affirmed his belief that the ministerial appointment should go to a younger member of the party in Oyo State since he is not the only APC member in the state.
He said: “I am in court for my senatorial election. I only expressed my preference that I am in court because I prefer the Senate. How can I be pursuing the Senate and ministerial appointment at the same time? I prefer the Senate. I hold President Muhammadu Buhari in high esteem. I will actually prefer a younger person to be considered for the ministerial slot since I am pursuing my senatorial ambition.”
He said those behind the misleading report wanted to cause disaffection between him and the President, whom he has a lot of respect for.
“I don’t know the source of their report. They just want to set me against Mr. President and it won’t work,” Ajimobi said.
