By Abiola Olawale
Aggrieved members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) chapter of Ondo state on Sunday, stormed the streets to protest the conduct of the Governorship primary election of the party.
The aggrieved members who stormed the state party secretariat, demanded the cancellation of the primary election, with many describing the exercise as a sham.
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.
Speaking during the protest, Mr Adeniran Oyebade, Director General for Olusola Oke Campaign Organisation, Ondo Central Senatorial District, said that the protesters were representatives of four governorship aspirants.
He said the members protesting against the conduct of the election are supporters of Chief Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa, Jimi Odimayo, and Folakemi Omogoroye.
The protesters who chanted solidarity songs also displayed various placards with inscriptions 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 a 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, ” 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 terrorizing 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.
This comes after reports that the governorship primaries held on Saturday were reportedly met with violence and discrepancies, as some aspirants alleged that voting did not take place in most of the 203 wards.
It would be recalled also that earlier on Sunday, the Ondo APC Governorship Primary Election Committee declared the Saturday exercise inconclusive.
This was made known by Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State, who is also the Chairman of the election committee in the state.
In a statement issued by Ododo, the election was declared inconclusive to give way for the conduct of a fresh election in all the 13 Wards of Okitipupa Local Government with total validated registered members of 9,515.
