The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State may not participate in the November 16, 2024 gubernatorial election in the state as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) electoral officers declared that the party didn’t conduct governorship primary election on April 20, 2024 in the state.
Reports submitted by INEC electoral officers, who monitored the APC governorship primary election across the 18 local government areas of the state, revealed that there were no elections in the designated registration areas, reports Daily Independent.
According to some reports in circulation signed and submitted by individual electoral officers which were received by one Dimas F. Emmanuel, ACLO, INEC headquarters, Abuja, dated April 30, 2024, the electoral officers revealed that there were no election materials made available at the polling stations.
They revealed that members of the party came out en masse to perform their civic rights but were disappointed as there were no election materials and the election committee which ought to conduct the election did not show up.
According to Abai C.O (Mrs.), the INEC electoral officer, who monitored Ifedore Local Government Area, “The election of the All Progressives Congress Governorship Primary was not held in my presence due to the unavailability of the election materials to be used and the absence of the electoral organising committee in all the 10 registration areas till monitoring team left late in the evening.”
In her report, Owogbo O.O. (Mrs.), the INEC electoral officer for Akoko South-East Local Government Area, said: “In some of the wards, the electorate arranged themselves in queues according to the number of contestants with representatives, counted the number of the electorate, but their efforts were rendered inconsequential as there were no election materials deployed for the conduct of the election.”
She gave the statistics of the wards she wrote her reports on to include Epinmin I and Epinmin II Ifira, Ipe I, Ipe II, Ipesi, Isua I, Isua II, Isua III and Isua IV. In Ilaje Local Government Area of the state, where the incumbent Governor Aiyedatiwa hails from, Okeniyi Bayo Fatai, the INEC electoral officer, who monitored the local government area explained that “the party members in the local government (area) all converged on the designated venues to exercise their civic responsibilities.
“Although INEC monitors were present in all wards for the assignment, but the event was characterised by non-availability of election materials across the 12 RAs in the LGA.
“In view of the above, election did not take place in Ilaje LGA and results were not given to the monitors.”
Meanwhile, the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee led by Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi State, had declared Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa winner of the party’s primary election purportedly conducted on April 20 and April 21, 2024.
Governor Aiyedatiwa was said to have polled 2533 out of 3831 valid votes in Akoko South-East. He also was declared to have won Ilaje, his local government area with 2485 out of the 7213 valid votes.
Other 15 governorship aspirants on the platform of APC had cried foul, saying the party’s primary election never held. None of the other contestants was able to vote for themselves in the purported primary election.
A video clip in circulation revealed that Governor Aiyedatiwa could not vote in his Ilaje Local Government Area as well.
Olusola Oke (SAN), Wale Akinterinwa, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Olugbenga Edema, Diran Iyantan, Prof. Faduyile Francis, Engr. Ife Oyedele and others insisted that there was no election on April 20 as claimed by Ododo-led Governorship Primary Election Committee.
