The Crisis In Ondo APC Takes A New Dimension That Seeks To Tear The Party

The first runners up in the All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship primary in Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Abraham, said, yesterday, that the party may lose the November 26 election if the truth is subverted on its choice of candidate. Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, who won the primary, beating Abraham with 34 votes, was declared the party’s candidate by the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party.

But two other aspirants, Chief Olusola Oke and Ajayi Boroffice, together with Abraham rejected the choice of Akeredolu. They lambasted the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun for his “undemocratic behavior in over-ruling the report of the Appeal Committee which ordered for fresh primary”.

Abraham, in a statement in Akure by his media aide, Sayo Aluko, said: “We can’t win the main election by subverting the truth, especially not among the kind of Ondo people who relentlessly dislike injustice. “We must not play into the hand of the opposition, who have been seemingly empowered in the little time our primary election has remained inconclusive” .

Abraham, who said he would not defect to another party because of the injustice, described Oyegun’s move as “inexplicably unexpected, unjustifiable and unacceptable”. He claimed that he is the “winner of the election on the count of voiding the ineligible/padded votes and rightfully re-enfranchising the disenfranchised votes”.

The aspirant said he has “carefully weighed constitutional means” to “seek redress and reclaim his mandate”.

“Our petition noted that 157 fake delegates were injected into the delegates’ list in 12 of the 18 local governments areas (LGAs). “This includes 54 delegates loyal to our mandate in at least three LGAs of Akoko North West (13), Akoko North East (26) and Idanre (15), who were disenfranchised and substituted with fake delegates.

“We have sought that these disenfranchised votes should be added to my poll (635), after the fake and substituted ones have been removed from votes polled by the acclaimed beneficiary.

“It is on these two tenable fronts, that is, the NWC’s verdict of an annulment and rerun, but, more importantly, the reconsideration, re-enfranchising, recount and rightful allotting of the amount of eligible delegates’ votes, that I seek a reclamation of my mandate to be declared as the flag bearer of our party in the forthcoming general election in Ondo State”.