A 40-year-old mechanical engineer, Dr Funmi Waheed-Adekojo, became the first Ondo aspirant to get the N10m expression of interest form on Wednesday, officially joining the race for the All Progressives Congress governorship ticket.
The ruling party has set the expression of interest form price at N10m, and the nomination form costs N40m.
However, female candidates and persons with disabilities are only required to buy the expression of interest form, as the nomination form is free for them.
Waheed-Adekojo, aiming to be the first female governor of the state, faces tough competition from the incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, business mogul and senator representing Ondo South district, Jimoh Ibrahim, and a notable APC chieftain, Olusola Oke, among others.
After obtaining her form at the APC national secretariat on Wednesday, she told reporters that she was not intimidated by other candidates in the race.
He also denied fronting for the governor, nor some alleged political godfathers in the state.
She stated, “I am not representing anybody. I have just acquired a N10m form without any backing from a godfather. I paid for it with my own hard-earned money, through which I have also independently trained 15,000 women and youths in Akoko and Ondo State in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship.
“I am not in the race to represent or serve the interest of anybody. I am a woman of the people who is closer to those at the grassroots. As a mechanical engineer from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and a Fellow of the Society of Engineers, I am in this race to win and become the first female governor of Ondo State.
“I am not only representing myself. I am here to represent the women in the world, especially here in Africa, where we need to showcase what we can do. This is the era where women have to come on board to replace a lot of things that are missing in our society.
