A senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former Commissioner in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede had in the early hours of Thursday, won the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for the forthcoming Ondo governorship election.

Jegede polled  888 to defeat seven others including the Deputy Governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi, who defected from the APC to PDP to bid for the ticket. Ajayi got  657 votes to emerge as the runner up.

The emergence of Jegede, who was the candidate of the PDP in 2016, has set the stage for a repeat of the electoral battle that produced governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor.

The process began following the arrival of members of the Primary Committee led by Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi around 1.30pm

No fewer than 2, 111 delegates from 18 local government areas were accredited. Other aspirants who made little impact in the shadow poll are: Bode Ayorinde (95), Sola Ebiseni (29), Senator Boluwaji Kunlere (33), Banji Okunomo (90), Dr. Eddy Olafeso (175) and Godd Erewa (14).

Governor Ugwuanyi had warned against unruly behaviour before he distributed ballot papers to the delegates.

Shortly after the accreditation, some PDP youths raised the alarm that four persons had been caught thumb printing ballot papers ahead of voting.

But, it was later discovered that the allegedly thumb-printed papers were specimens.

The Ondo State Police Command deployed no fewer than 800 policemen to monitor the primary.

Police Public Relations Officer Tee-Leo Ikoro, an Assisitant Superintendent of Police (ASP), told reporters at the venue that the purpose was to ensure safety of lives and properties.