Crisis Brews In Ondo APC As Appeals Committee Bows To Tinubu
A major crisis is brewing in the Ondo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following the recommendation of the primary appeal committee of the party that the exercise that produced Rotimi Akeredolu as the party’s candidate for the November 26 governorship election be annulled and a fresh exercise conducted.
Akeredolu had emerged victorious polling 699 votes to beat 24 other aspirants and was returned as the APC candidate by Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Jigawa state, chairman of the APC election committee.
Though all the aspirants congratulated Akeredolu and expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise, events took a turn four days later as Olusegun Abraham, Senator Bola Tinubu’s acclaimed anointed, called for the cancellation of the exercise over alleged irregularities.
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He was subsequently joined by Olusola Oke and Ajayi Boroffice, who emerged third and fourth respectively, calling for the setting aside of Akeredolu’s victory.
As a result of the calls and petition, the APC National Secretariat set up the Hellen Bendega committee which now upheld the prayers of those seeking the nullification of the exercise.
As part of its recommendation, the committee urged a rerun primary which should be held immediately to beat the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Committee (INEC).
Following the latest outcome, The Whistler learnt that peace would elude the Ondo state chapter of the party as it was prior to the primary.
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It would be recalled that the APC secretariat in the state was taken over by charms and other fetish objects forcing staff and members to steer clear of the premises.
“The committee just nailed the coffin of the party in the state by this hatchet job. How can a primary that was before the whole world be set aside to please a certain godfather somewhere? APC is Ondo should kiss the governorship goodbye because this injustice would not stand,” a party supporter aligned to Akeredolu told this newspaper in confidence.
Before the primary, Akeredolu had promised that the APC National Leader, Tinubu, would be shocked at the outcome of the primary.
“What do you mean by gang up? I am not ganging up against anybody and I don’t know whether some people are ganging up against anybody. What I know is that I am running for governorship and I am running to win the primary and I will win the primary. Gang up for what? Gang up against somebody who has no vote, somebody who is not known, somebody who cannot win, somebody who has no structure? Wherever it is he comes from, he cannot win. We don’t need to gang up against him; he would come in this election a distant fifth with all the support he gets. Even with every support they give him, he would come a distant fifth. All I know is that I am working to win and I would win the primary.”
