PROTEST ROCKS ONDO AS 4 GUBER ASPIRANTS CALL FOR CANCELLATION OF PRIMARY
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Aggrieved members of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Ondo state, Sunday, stormed the state party secretariat to protest the conduct of the last Saturday’s governorship primary election across the state.
They equally called for the suspension of the chairman of the election committee and governor of Kogi state, Ahmed Ododo from the party for the undemocratic manner he conducted the exercise.
The protesters who represented four of the governorship aspirants blocked the Oba Adesida/ Oyemekun road and condemned the outcome of the exercise.
According to their spokesperson, Adeniran Oyebade, Director General for Olusola Oke Campaign Organisation, Ondo Central Senatorial District, said that the protesters were representatives of four governorship aspirants.
They include, Chief Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa, Jimi Odimayo and Folakemi Omogoroye.
The protesters were armed with placards of various inscription 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, “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..
Oyebade, while addressing newsmen said that “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.
“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.
He added that ” 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.
Female aspirant threatens court action if primary isn’t cancelled
Reacting to the outcome of the election, one of the two female aspirants, Folakemi Omogoroye, who called for the cancellation noted that she would approach the law court if the party leadership fails to cancel the exercise.
Omogoroye, in a statement, said that “there was no election anywhere,” it’s complete rape of democracy.”
She lamented the absence of election officials and voting materials at voting centers, rendering her and her supporters unable to exercise their right to vote.
She said that “despite her meticulous preparation and financial commitment to the party, she found herself circumvented to participate in the democratic process.
Omogoroye, has therefore, called the party’s leader, President Bola Tinubu, to intervene and annul the purported election.
According to her ” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave us women a renewed hope agenda that prompted me to go into the race with assurance that the election is going to be free and fair and that was why I went into this contest.
“But to my greatest surprise, the reverse is the case. I was on the field from 7am no election materials, were seen, not to talk of seeing any party officials or INEC officials and a voice came up that Aiyedatiwa has won, Aiyedatiwa has won.
“I am not going to accept it, and now, I am calling for cancellation and if this is not done, maybe we’ll meet in the court”.
“Other parties are now making mockery of our party, all my political followers from all the books and crannies of Ondo state have been calling me that the same thing happened all over.
She warned of dire consequences for the party’s future in the state if swift action was not taken.
Exercise was a show of shame – Akinterinwa
Also reacting, another aspirant, Wale Akinterinwa, has described the Saturday governorship primary election as a show of shame.
A statement in Akure, by his spokesperson, Segun Ajiboye, declared that the ” show of shame will not stand.
”It has become very important for us to speak lest the people, party leaders, and the general public are deceived by the Governor, Usman Ododo-led committee that an election was held to select the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo state.
“Without any fear of contradiction, we state here that no election was held in any part of Ondo State on Saturday to elect the candidate of the APC.
“It is on record with incontrovertible evidence that nothing in the semblance of a primary election was held in all the 203 wards in Ondo state.
“At best, what can be said to have happened was that the committee chairman, Governor Ododo, arrived in the state at about 8 am on Saturday to write the result of an election that was never conducted.
“Saturday’s election presented our dear party with a rare opportunity to endear itself to the people of the state. All that was needed was for us to organise an election that would be hailed by all, even the opposition.
“But we bungled the opportunity with the sham organised by the electoral committee.
“The people have eyes and they can see. But on Saturday, they did not see any part of the state where electoral committee members counted the votes as expected.
“Rather, what they witnessed was a crowd of our enthusiastic supporters who stood in the sun for several hours waiting for the elusive electoral officers to turn up.
” But we dashed their hopes and expectations of a robust democratic engagement.
“It is also noteworthy to state that on Friday, April 19, 2024, the secretary of the committee, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who stood in for Governor Usman Ododo at the stakeholders’ meeting had assured all the aspirants and other stakeholders that all the guidelines put in place to ensure the integrity and smooth conduct of the nomination exercise would be followed to the letter.
“But it was not surprising that what Governor Ododo did on Saturday was far distant from what was promised.
” However, what was surprising was the audacity and the indecent manner the election committee actualised its plot, which was scripted and directed to favour a particular candidate.
“For them, a little display of decency by allowing the 203 wards’ election committees to pretend to do their job was a sheer waste of their precious time.
*Never before in the history of the APC have we witnessed anything close to what was put on display on Saturday.
“Saturday’s sham election will probably go down as one of the most controversial primary elections ever conducted by our party.
“The supportive and hardworking members of the APC were robbed and made to understand or believe that their votes do not count.
“While we are still trying to process the shameful manipulation and fraud that attended this election, it remains a huge and difficult task to understand why the electoral committee was in such a hurry to conclude and announce their candidate as the winner.
“However, we greet the resilience of our supporters across the 203 electoral wards in the state who forsook their farms, trades, and other matters to queue in the sun till well after 3 pm.
” Be rest assured that your effort is noted and your sweat has not gone in vain.
“We, therefore most respectfully appeal to all our supporters to remain calm and peaceful, law-abiding, and conduct themselves most responsibly while we explore legal and democratic ways to register our grievances.
” We assure you that our principal, Wale Akinterinwa remains absolutely undaunted and deeply committed to the tenets of democracy.
“Let the world know that this is not about Wale Akinterinwa. It is our contribution to deepen democracy and for a better life for our people. It is about the future of our state.
Rescheduled primary to give legitimacy to flawed primary – Oke
Chief Olusola Oke, while speaking on the exercise said that the rescheduled election in Okitipupa by the election committee was to give impression that the Saturday exercise was credible.
A statement in Akure by his spokesperson, Ojo Oyewamide, said that the rescheduled exercise was ” to give an impression that the committee conducted a credible governorship nomination exercise in Ondo state on Saturday.
The statement reads that ” Our question is that how can a primary election that did not take place anywhere in the state be rescheduled in one of the 18 local government areas? We consider this as a shameful attempt to give the sham a stamp of credibility.
“We also see it as an insult to the sensibilities and religion of the people of Okitipupa Local Government Area to slate an election for 12 pm on Sunday.
” The local government area is predominantly populated by Christians and they will be in church at the time the exercise will be taking place.
“It is our belief that this is an unthinking plan to disenfranchise members of our party in the area.
“Ododo has been reported to have hailed the travesty of democracy that the disgraceful action of his primary election team represents.
“This is not unexpected of the governor. This is because Ododo is a product of electoral frauds, a fact known to the whole world.
“Why would Ododo not applaud an exercise that was characterized by violence, intimidation and fraudulent practices, all of which were what paved his way to the seat of Kogi state governor?.
“It is a well-known fact that his election as governor was hallmarked by sorrow, tears and blood of the people of Kogi state.
“Ododo is a character that lacks democratic credentials and a sense of decency.
“We wonder why the national body of our party gave a sensitive assignment such as the conduct of the governorship primary election in Ondo state to a fellow who does not appreciate democratic principles.
Oyewamide said that “We understand the limitations of Governor Ododo. Since he is a product of election that is driven by violence and intimidation, seeing an election that is tainted by an unimaginable volume of violence, maximum intimidation and gross manipulation will certainly means nothing to him.
“We insist that what happened in Ondo state yesterday was a disheartening mockery of democracy. As a result, our party has become a booth of joke in the hands of the opposition parties and the people of the state.
He added that “We will like to categorically state that the Kogi governor cannot impose a candidate on our party members through a shambolic exercise. It is unacceptable to us.
PDP mocks APC, says it’s huge charade, mockery of democracy
Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Ondo state, has mocked the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, over the conduct of the election, describing it as “a huge charade and a mockery of democracy in every sense of the word.
A statement issued in Akure, by the states Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Peretei, said that exercise was ” an anticlimax and a mockery of democracy.
Peretei said that ” If the APC cannot conduct a free, fair, transparent and credible primary election for 171,922 of their members, they should perish the idea of presiding over the affairs of Ondo State beyond the eight years in which they have practically stagnated the State.
“The statement read that” The over hyped All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Primary Election in Ondo State turned out to be a huge charade and a mockery of democracy in every sense of the word.
“The National headquarters of the party raked in a handsome sum of N830m from unsuspecting aspirants who took photographs with their Nomination Forms in Abuja with their supporters.
” Little did they know that, the exercise would be an anticlimax and their aspirations to occupy the number one seat in the State completely eclipsed and all the efforts headed for the dustbin.
“The signs that all would not be well emerged 48 hours before the primary when five of the aspirants petitioned the APC National Headquarters about irregularities on the accredited members for the primary.
“Four years ago, former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, who has been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) for N85 billion fraud, presided over a similar event in Akure, where none of the aspirants, sighted the delegates list before the primary.
“As at the morning of the election, it was not clear whether it was going to be Direct or Indirect primary.
“That was the exercise that produced former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu as candidate of the APC for 2020 Governorship election.
“This time, Gov Ahmed Usman Ododo, Bello’s successor in office has wrecked more havoc than his boss.
“Journalists who tried to monitor the primary were shocked that in almost all the centres that elections were supposed to hold, there were no election materials, neither were there officials to conduct the exercise.
“The Akure City Hall, one of the supposed centers was empty as at 1.00pm.
“Instead, there were reported cases of violence in Akure South and Okitipupa Local Government Areas, where political thugs had a field day.
“In one of the videos that was seen online to create impression that the exercise held, the returning officer counted to 400 and jumped to 560. Some of the aspirants have since called for the cancellation of the exercise.
“It is a shame that, the APC cannot bring only one of their sixteen aspirants to square up with other political parties in the general election through a process that is above board.
“That alone, is an affirmation that, the party should be consigned to dustbin of history, where it rightfully belongs.
“The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ondo State Chapter will once again demonstrate its superior organizational sagacity and democratic credentials this week, through a Governorship Primary Election that will be covered live by media houses and Non-Governmental Organizations in the full glare of the world.
“As at the early hours of today, Journalists were still waiting for the outcome of the charade that Usman Ododo and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege called a primary election in Ondo State.
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