Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akure, the Ondo State capital, took to the streets on Sunday to protest what they termed irregularities and biased conduct of the ward primaries across the state on Saturday.
The ward primaries meant to produce the governorship candidate of the party for the November 16, 2024, governorship election in the state has been marred with non-availability of election materials, as the protesters called for the cancellation of the ward primaries.
Most of them are supporters of one of the aspirants, Olushola Oke as they carried different placards, calling on the national secretariat to remove the chairman of the primary election committee and Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo.
One of the protesters claimed no ward primaries were held, insisting that the guidelines given by the national secretariat of the party were not followed as the committee did not distribute materials to any wards.
Additional reports from our correspondent in Akure, Jacob Akintunde, revealed that the protesters, who were supporters of Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa and Jimi Odimayo, alleged that the primary was fraught with illegalities, and therefore asked APC to conduct a fresh primary poll in the State.
While flaunting different protest banners and placards with such as “No election in Ondo.,” APC primary electoral officers failed to show up in all wards in Ondo State,” “We demand fairness and justice in APC primary election in Ondo,” the protesters alleged that; “Ododo is a criminal and a thief.
They noted that, in a saner clime, Governor Ododo, would have been in jail, “Election crime is a serious crime. You cannot come to the wards of our people and start terrorising them against their will”, added.
The placard also included “No mandate for Aiyedatiwa, we’re calling for fresh primary election, ” “NWC of APC No Mandate for Aiyedatiwa,” “Saturday ‘s APC primary in Ondo was a sham,” “APC Must Not Collapse in Ondo State,” “Primary Election materials were not distributed in all wards across Eighteen LGAs in Ondo State,” among others.
They, however, called for fresh primary election in the interest of peace and tranquillity.
Addressing journalists, Adeniran Oyebabde, the Director General for Olusola Oke Campaign Organisation, Ondo Central Senatorial District, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said the election was a broad daylight robbery.
“We are protesting against our mandate that was stolen. It was a broad-day light robbery, a monumental disaster. APC delegated some people to Ondo State to conduct the primary; apparently, that was never done. They remained in Akure and started writing results. They wrote the results of 203 wards all across Ondo State, taking the mandate of the people into their own hands.”
He alleged that, “at the end of the day, we started seeing different results flying around stating one particular candidate won the election, but that never happened.
“APC as a party is about to set Ondo State on fire, and we will never take this as likely. We want the most popular candidate, a candidate that knows the people; we want the candidate whose name is a household brand in every part of Ondo State. We do not want an unpopular or controversial candidate; we don’t want a wife beater. We want someone with a sound mind.
“Ododo should be suspended from the party. Ododo is a criminal and a thief. In a saner clime, Ododo by now will be in jail. Election crime is a serious crime.
You cannot come to the wards of our people and start terrorising them against their will. What we want is the cancellation of the election because any election did not take place. There is no need to say that the election was inconclusive”, he said.
Ade Adeniyi and Bola Fisayo, who also spoke on behalf of other aspirants, said APC members, who were eligible to vote for their preferred aspirants waited for the conduct of the poll but all to no avail.
