An aspirant of the 2024 governorship election in Ondo State under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Paul Akintelure, is dead.
Akintelure, a medical doctor, was said to have passed on in the early hours of Tuesday after a brief illness in Lagos, as confirmed by the spokesperson of the APC in Ondo State.
According to reports, the medical doctor turned politician had raised alarm about both direct and indirect threats to his life. Akintelure, in a statement released by his spokesperson, Oladapo Akintelure, on Thursday, March 21, 2023, said:
“Initially, I hoped these incidents would dissipate over time, yet regrettably, they have escalated to pose a serious threat to my life.”
“The threats against me only strengthen my resolve to stand up for what is right and just. I will not allow fear to dictate our path forward.
“Let us embrace peace, progress, and unity. Our collective strength lies in our to stand together as one, regardless of our differences,” the statement read.
In 2012, Akintelure ran as the deputy governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in opposition to Olusegun Mimiko, who emerged victorious as the Labour Party’s flagbearer and secured the governors’ seat in Ondo State.
Before then, he had run for the Ondo South senatorial election also under the ACN, competing against the candidate from the Peoples Democratic Party, albeit experiencing defeat.
Akintrlure was a private medical practitioner based in Lagos. He hailed from Igbotako in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State.