Ondo APC women, youths protest alleged tampering of primary results

Women and Youths of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday staged a protest at Akure, the Ondo State capital, alleging the national leadership of the party of tampering with the outcome of the primary election results.

The party faithful, who turned out in large numbers to block the Ilesa-Owo/Benin expressway, insisted that the votes cast during the primary election must be protected and that the will of APC members across the 18 local government areas of Ondo State should be respected and protested by the national leadership of the party.

According to them, “Ondo State conducted a peaceful election; We say no to National Working Committee imposition. Respect the will of the people, let democracy prevail.

Addressing journalists during the protest, the Ondo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Seun Osamaye asked President Bola Tinubu to intervene and call the national leadership of the party to order.

Osamaye said; “We say no imposition; let our vote count; Ondo State say no Abuja results; Ondo State is on fire; we say no mago mago.

“We women of Ondo State have come out to express our displeasure with the fake list being circulated. We consider it fake because it does not reflect the mandate of the people. It does not reflect the votes counted across the 203 wards of Ondo State. We know those we voted for. We know those we counted that won the elections. So why does the list being circulated online not reflect the people’s mandate? That is the question we have come to ask this afternoon.

“It is a peaceful protest and we say no to mago-mago appeal. We say no to fake appeal. We say no to corner-corner appeal. People’s votes should count. We voted massively for our candidates, and it should reflect in the list that has been pasted. But what we are seeing online does not reflect what we voted for, and that is why we have come today.
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“‎We know President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a president for women. We know he is a man who listens, a man of fair judgment, integrity, fairness and justice. So what we are saying is: let the people’s votes matter. Let our votes count. We say no to mago-mago appeal and corner-corner appeal. We voted across the 203 wards, and what was pasted online does not reflect our mandate. That is why, as women of the APC in Ondo State, we have come out to express our concern that this injustice should not stand. It is against the spirit of fairness, transparency and voting. People’s votes are meant to matter and count.
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“We don’t want to accept that our demands will not be met. Today’s date was written on the list that was circulated, so we are saying that what was pasted is very wrong. The APC National said its decision was based on appeal, so they should make everything transparent. Let us know which appeal, which mago-mago and corner-corner appeal, does not reflect the people’s will. We are demanding justice. We are demanding fairness. We are demanding equity. That is what we are saying as women of the APC in Ondo State.”

Ojo Bright, who also spoke on behalf of the protesting youths said “the truth is that the South-West is a peaceful region and a stronghold of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where he will get overwhelming support. So we don’t know who our national party chairman is working for, whether he is working for the opposition, his brother Atiku Abubakar from the North, to defeat our candidate, the people’s President from the South-West.

“If they attempt to disrupt Nigeria’s peace by inciting chaos and crisis through our party in Ondo State, let it be on record that we, the people, will resist. Nobody has defeated the army of the people in history, and nobody can defeat our people in Ondo State. That is sacrosanct.”

Speaking in the same vein, the Ondo State APC Women Leader, Oluwayemisi  Iji-Ayeola said “we are crying against injustice. We are crying against one man dictating the fate of Ondo State. We women are crying against one man changing the future of Ondo State. That is why we are out here.

“We had a very wonderful election, a credible election, and we picked our own candidates from all the 18 local government areas for the National Assembly and the House of Assembly. Ordinarily, immediately after the election, the results should have been announced. But this time around, we have waited for almost a month for the results of our candidates.

“Then, on Friday, surprisingly, people who were not even part of the election, people who did not contest, had their names announced. How come? That brought agony and sympathy from the women of Ondo State. It is a slap on the party in Ondo State, it is a slap suggesting that we don’t know what we are doing and cannot control our own party in the state. It is also a slap on our leader, the Governor of Ondo State.

“If nothing is done, our next action is that we will go on a rampage. Ondo State is going to be on fire if the results are not released. We are going to come out and show them that what happened back then will not repeat itself.

“Ondo State Women stands with the Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.”