Two DAYS after the primary of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State, some of the governorship aspirants of the party have been reacting to the outcome of the election.
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, won the primary held on Saturday in Akure, the state capital, defeating all the 23 other aspirants of the party.
One of the governorship aspirants of the party, Chief Olusola Oke condemned the emergence of Akeredolu as the party’s candidate for the governorship poll, faulting the result of the primary.
However, two aspirants, Dr. Segun Abraham and Mr. Victor Olabimtan, hailed the conduct of the exercise, saying the election was free and fair. They congratulated Akeredolu and pledged to support his governorship bid.
Speaking through his Director-General of his campaign, Mr. Bola Fisayo, on Sunday, Oke said the election was not a true reflection of the delegates that participated in the primary last Saturday.
Oke was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2012 governorship election. He specifically alleged that some names of the delegates were removed from the delegates’ list while non-delegates were allegedly allowed to vote.
He explained that the list of delegates handed over to the aspirants at a meeting with the Presidency was different from the list of delegates brought by the Chairman of the Election Committee, who is also the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar.
According to him, the delegates’ list was shown to the aspirants at the eleventh hour and there was no adequate time to scrutinise the list by most of the aspirants.
He alleged further that about 110 names belonging to Oke’s camp were removed from both Ondo East and West Local Governments while their names were replaced with non-executive members of the party.
He said, “There was nothing we could do at that particular time. I can confirm to you that 80 per cent of those that cast their votes for Abraham came from Oke’s camp.
“The election did not represent the true position of the delegates, the accreditation gave room for manipulation and the whole process was laced with fraud and the result released did not represent the true reflection of the delegates as non-delegates were allowed to participate in the election”
But Abraham, while congratulating Akeredolu, in a statement he issued on Sunday, commended the electoral committee for conducting a hitch-free election.
He said, “My special regards and admiration for Alhaji Baderu Abubakar, the Governor of Jigawa State, and his team for their sterling quality and integrity in conducting the APC governorship primary in Ondo State.”
Abraham, who pledged to join hands with Akeredolu to reposition the state, also assured the people of the state that the APC government would not disappoint them.
Punch.
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