The last Saturday’s primary election that produced Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo state as the candidate of the party was again called to question on Thursday when aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the umbrella of Ondo APC youths stormed the party’s headquarters to demand cancellation of the election.
TheHintsNews reports that the primary election conducted by a team led by Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, Aiyedatiwa as declared winner having polled 48, 569 in the direct primary exercise to defeat all the other 15 aspirants.
The aspirants are: the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial district, Jimoh Ibrahim; Olusola Oke, former President of Nigerian Medical Association, Prof. Francis Faduyile, Funmilayo Waheed-Adekojo and the National Vice Chairman of the APC, South West, Isaac Kekemeke, Dr. Soji Ehinlanwo, Akinfolarin Samuel, Okunjimi Odimayo, Adewale Akinterinwa, Olugbenga Edema and Brig-Gen. Ohunyeye Olamide (rtd), Morayo Lebi, Oladiran Iyatan and Ifeoluwa Oyedele won the ticket of the party.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Ondo APC youths described the election as scam and therefore called for a fresh election.
The protesters were armed with placards with various inscriptions like: “Ondo APC rejects Kangaroo primary election”, “No primary held in Ondo”, ” We want a fresh election”, among others, vowed to comtinue to protest until their demand is met.
The leader of the protesters, who is also a party youth leader in Akure South, Kolawole Johnson declared that only a rerun election could pacify their people back home in Ondo.
Johnson, while addressing journalists on appealed to President Bola Tinubu and other leaders of the party to prevail on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to inaugurate a new election committee chairman to oversee the fresh poll.
His words: “How can you say you want to ratify the outcome of a primary and you declared a candidate? It shows there is foul play. Ondo is APC and APC is Ondo State. We won’t fold our hands and allow opposition parties to snatch Ondo from us.
“That is why we are calling on the party to cancel the primary. There should be a rerun and we want a new person to head the committee that will supervise us. What they did is not a primary election. It is selling the APC ticket. We want a rerun because we are not impressed with the poll.
“We, therefore, invite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to look into this. We don’t want the opposition to take over Ondo State.”