By John Obi
The Governorship Primary Election in Ondo State may have come and gone with the declaration of incumbent Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa as flag bearer of the party but it appears not to be clinically over as three of the sixteen aspirants cleared for the contest have petitioned the party over the outcome of the poll, demanding outright cancellation of the exercise.
The aspirants,Wale Akinterinwa, Olugebenga Edema, and Jimi Odimayo submitted their petitions to the 5- member Appeal committee headed by a former governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar who confirmed the receipt of the petition.
He said “We have received three petitions from these three aspirants: Gbenga Edema, Jimi Odimayo, and Wale Akinterinwa,”
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,”
The aspirants in their appeal alleged that compromise and irregularitiies characterised last Saturday’s primary in Ondo state.
In his appeal, Akinteriwa called for the cancellation of the entire election saying that the committee headed by Gov.Usman Ododo compromised and failed to walk the talk.
He claimed that the committee did not distribute any election materials to any part of the state
“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.”
Corroborating Akinteriwa’s position, ,Edema stated “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”.
In the same vein,Odimayo also faulted the conduct of the primary election and called for the outright cancellation disbandment of the Ododo committee with immediate effect adding that as the ruling party, the APC should do the right thing as all eyes are on it .
“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.
