Aspirants in the just concluded Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election have petitioned the party over the outcome of the poll.
Three of the sixteen aspirants demanded that the primary election be cancelled.
The aspirants who filed their appeals to the appeal committee of the party are: ‘Wale Akinterinwa, Olugebenga Edema, and Jimi Odimayo.
The election committee, led by Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, had in the early hours of Monday, declared Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa the winner of the primary election, with a total of 48,569 votes.
Days after the declaration, the leader of the five-man appeal committee and a former governor of Bauchi State Mohammed Abubakar confirmed that the three of the aspirants have petitioned the party over the exercise.
“We have received three petitions from these three aspirants: Gbenga Edema, Jimi Odimayo, and Wale Akinterinwa,” Abubakar said.
In his appeal, Akinterinwa said: “It is clear that the Committee did not distribute materials to any local government in Ondo State for the election.
“That the purported election should be cancelled and a new date should be picked and a new election conducted.
“That the Usman Ododo-committee has compromised itself because of not obeying its own rules and so should not be allowed to conduct the new election.”
Edema in his petition declared: “We have brought this to your notice that no election ever held in Ondo State APC. The committee is invited to order that a proper election be held without delay”.
The third appellant, Odimayo called for the outright cancellation of the APC primary election, and the disbandment of the seven-man committee with immediate effect.
“Kindly note that our party is the cynosure of all eyes and it is expected of us to do what is right at all times,” he said.
“As part of the party’s guidelines, nobody is allowed to be a Returning Officer in his or her ward of origin.
“This provision of the guidelines was flagrantly abused by the people saddled with the responsibilities of conducting a credible, free, and fair primary election. The Returning Officers were assigned the election duties of their wards of origin. Such impunity would lead to a clash of interest,” he added.
In his speech, Abubakar, assured members of the party that the committee – which has Obiocha Israel, Secretary; Jamilu Gwamna, Patrick Obahiagbo, and Onyeka Okafor as members – would be thorough and transparent in treating any complaint that was received.
“I can assure you that within a few days, we will consider the total number of petitions we receive and render a report to the national headquarters before the party takes a final decision on the issue.
“So, I am calling on all the aspirants who have complaint(s) to please, feel free to forward them to us. We have since established our office at the headquarters of the party for collection of the appeals,” Abubakar noted.
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