A frontline governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State, Olusola Oke, has said securing the ticket of the ruling party won't be a tea-party affair.

Speaking at the weekend in Akure, the state capital, Oke said President Bola Tinubu, who is the leader of the party, will not impose any candidate in the APC primary slated for April.

He explained that the party needs a competent, popular and acceptable person, whose experience in politics is unmatched to be its candidate, saying such an individual will be able to win the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

"No doubt, the governorship of a state is no longer an internal affair of a state nor the leadership of the party and the leadership of the country will also be interested. If this contest were to be influenced or to be determined alone locally, I believe very strongly that the people of Ondo State are craving my leadership of this state.

"And I want to believe that I know President Bola Tinubu is one man who will never sit down in the comfort of his office or private room to drop a candidate or an aspirant of the party. He would surely consider acceptability, popularity, capacity and other factors to make the party win and excel in governance," Oke said.

He added, "The next governor of Ondo State must be a determined and focused person who will be ready to do the work. My dream and mission for Ondo State is that we cannot continue to wait in the same manner for another four years."