Oke rejects Ondo APC primary result

Two DAYS after the primary of the All
Progressives Congress in Ondo State, some
of the governorship aspirants of the party
have been reacting to the outcome of the
election.
A former President of the Nigerian Bar
Association, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, won
the primary held on Saturday in Akure, the
state capital, defeating all the 23 other
aspirants of the party.
One of the governorship aspirants of the
party, Chief Olusola Oke condemned the
emergence of Akeredolu as the party’s
candidate for the governorship poll, faulting
the result of the primary.
However, two aspirants, Dr. Segun Abraham
and Mr. Victor Olabimtan, hailed the
conduct of the exercise, saying the election
was free and fair. They congratulated
Akeredolu and pledged to support his
governorship bid.
Speaking through his Director-General of
his campaign, Mr. Bola Fisayo, on Sunday,
Oke said the election was not a true
reflection of the delegates that participated
in the primary last Saturday.
Oke was the candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party in the 2012 governorship
election. He specifically alleged that some
names of the delegates were removed from
the delegates’ list while non-delegates were
allegedly allowed to vote.
He explained that the list of delegates
handed over to the aspirants at a meeting
with the Presidency was different from the
list of delegates brought by the Chairman
of the Election Committee, who is also the
Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed
Abubakar.
According to him, the delegates’ list was
shown to the aspirants at the eleventh hour
and there was no adequate time to
scrutinise the list by most of the aspirants.
He alleged further that about 110 names
belonging to Oke’s camp were removed
from both Ondo East and West Local
Governments while their names were
replaced with non-executive members of
the party.
He said, “There was nothing we could do at
that particular time. I can confirm to you
that 80 per cent of those that cast their
votes for Abraham came from Oke’s camp.
“The election did not represent the true
position of the delegates, the accreditation
gave room for manipulation and the whole
process was laced with fraud and the result
released did not represent the true
reflection of the delegates as non-delegates
were allowed to participate in the election”
But Abraham, while congratulating
Akeredolu, in a statement he issued on
Sunday, commended the electoral
committee for conducting a hitch-free
election.
He said, “My special regards and admiration
for Alhaji Baderu Abubakar, the Governor of
Jigawa State, and his team for their sterling
quality and integrity in conducting the APC
governorship primary in Ondo State.”
Abraham, who pledged to join hands with
Akeredolu to reposition the state, also
assured the people of the state that the
APC government would not disappoint
them.