Ondo 2024: APC will lose if primary is not cancelled – former speaker
Mr. Bamidele Oloyeloogun, a former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, says the All Progressives Congress (APC) may lose the Nov. 16 governorship election if Saturday’s primary is not cancelled.
The former speaker, who is a chieftain of the of the APC, stated this at a news conference in Akure on Tuesday.
Oloyeloogun was the speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly from 2017 to 2023 and represented Ifedore State Constituency from 2011 to 2023.
Supreme News reports that Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa emerged as the candidate of the APC for the Nov. 16 governorship election, having scored 48,569 votes in the poll, to defeat the other 15 aspirants.
Usman Ododo, the Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kogi, declared Aiyedatiwa the winner of the primary on Monday.
The former speaker, however, described the conduct of the primary as “sham and fraud” against the party and its members in the state.
He warned that if the April 20 primary was not nullified by the APC leadership, the party “will lose” the Nov. 16 governorship election in the state.
Said he: “As a leader in APC in Ondo State, I want to warn that if the purported April 20 primary is not cancelled, APC will lose the Nov. 16 governorship election.
“It is on record, including that of the Independent National Electoral Commission, that there was no ward out of the 203 wards in the state where the election was held; they just manufactured figures.
“The evidence is that today our members are not jubilating because the process that led to the announcement and declaration of the winner was a fraud perpetrated against them.
“Today in Ondo State, APC members have their placard in their hearts, and they will display it during the Nov. 16 governorship election, no matter the level of intimidation.
“As someone who had contested election four times and won, I know the implications of the charade called primary on Saturday.
“Those who came to Ondo State to perpetrate this evil called primary against our members should be held accountable when the chips are down and the seed germinates in November.”
Oloyeloogun appealed to President Bola Tinubu, as the leader of the party, to salvage the party by ensuring the cancellation of the primary.
“President Bola Tinubu is the leader of the party and should urgently weigh in on this issue to prevent the party from losing the November governorship election.
“It was this type of fraud that was perpetrated by the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State in 2007 that emboldened Dr Segun Mimiko to join the Labour Party and the party recorded a huge success in the state,” the former lawmaker noted.
