Ondo 2024: Rancour at APC primaries, as aspirants demand cancellation of exercise

Voters who filed out early in most wards were thrown into confusion when electoral officials failed to appear at the centres at about noon.

It was rancour on Saturday at the various wards, venues of the direct primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as stranded voters protested irregularities in the process.

The exercise was to be used to determine who, among 16 aspirants, picks the party’s ticket for the November governorship election.

Following the confusion that attended the process, four of the aspirants contesting the primaries have called for the cancellation of the alleged election fraud perpetrated by the seven-man APC Electoral Committee, led by Governor Ahmed Ododo of Kogi State.

The aspirants are Olugbenga Edema, Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa and Dayo Faduyile.

The aspirants called on the national leadership of the party to, as a matter of urgency, remove the chairman of Electoral Committee as they no longer trust in his ability to conduct a free and fair election.

Addressing journalists at the BON Hotel in Akure, the state capital on Saturday, the aggrieved aspirants, led by Mr Edema, said the exercise had been compromised with the consent of the election committee.

Mr Edema warned that the development, if not corrected, could affect the outcome of the shadow election and the November governorship election.

“At the stakeholders meeting held at St. Thomas event centre, the secretary of that Primary Election Committee, Ovie Omo-Agege, a Senator, said the voting materials, which included the membership register and others, will be distributed to the electoral officers whose names he announced to us in each of the 203 wards of Ondo State.

“That they should come to BON Hotel to collect the materials and that accreditation will start by 10 a.m, to be completed by 1p.m, while voting proper will start by 1p.m and end by 2p.m, then followed by announcement of the results,” Mr Edema said.

“As I am talking to you now, this is 10:40 a.m, we’ve been here since 6 a.m, believing that our people will collect the materials. Unfortunately, at about 9:30 a.m, Mr Ododo came out to tell us that materials had been distributed. At what time? In what places? We don’t know!

“Unfortunately for him, the returning officers and electoral officers of my ward, Mahin Ward II in Ilaje Local Government are here and unable to collect any material.

“What we are asking for is a credible election. We are asking the leadership of the party to look into this. If they’re not ready for this election, they should postpone it and the right thing should be done,” he added.

Also, Sola Ajisafe, who spoke on behalf of another aspirant, Wale Akinterinwa, said, “for APC to bring Ododo to Ondo State is a low for our party and state. Our position is that no primary election has taken place, no election material has left here, and we are saying that the leadership of the party should do the needful by sending another neutral person, just like they did in Edo State to come and conduct another primary election where the good people of Ondo State will freely exercise their franchise to pick their candidate.

“If the leadership of the party fails to do the needful, then we are going to react accordingly if any result is announced. We are telling the leadership of the party, including President Bola Tinubu, that no election took place in Ondo State, and no materials were distributed for us to pick our preferred candidate.”

Olusola Oke also rejected the process, saying that there has been no election so far.

Rotimi Ogunleye, who spoke on his behalf, said, “we got here around 6:30am; we don’t know when and where the election materials were sent out from this place to Ondo South and North senatorial districts. The truth of the matter is that there were no materials sent out.

“Why can’t they follow the due process? The national leadership of the party should call Ododo to order, they should follow the guidelines they released.”

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that voters who filed out early in most wards were thrown into confusion when electoral officials failed to appear at the centres at about noon.

When this reporter visited Ward 6, Akure South Local Government Area, there was rancour and voters were scattered not knowing what to do.

One voter, Adesanmi Joseph, who spoke angrily, said even though the electoral officials had not arrived, people were asked to line up behind their aspirants.

“Once they saw who was winning, some party leaders came and declared the process ended,” he said.

The same situation was reported in Ore in Odigbo Local Government Area, where voters waited in vain for voting materials.

• Premium Times