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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The All Progressives Congress(APC) in Ondo State may not participate in the November 16, 2024 governorship election as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Electoral Officers declared that the party did not conduct primary election in the state on April 20, 2024.
Reports submitted by INEC Electoral Officers, who monitored the APC governorship primary election across the 18 local government areas in the state, revealed that there were no elections in the designated Registration Areas.
According to some of the reports in circulation, signed and submitted by individual Electoral Officers were received by one Dimas F. Emmanuel, ACLO, INEC Headquarters, Abuja.
In the reports 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 mass 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.”
Abai C.O. (Mrs.), the INEC Electoral Officer who monitored the election in Ifedore Local Government Area, wrote: “The election of 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 electorates arranged themselves in queues according to the number of contestants with representatives, counted the number of the electorates, 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 Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa hails from, Okeniyi Bayo Fatai, the INEC Electoral Officer, who monitored the local government said: “The party members in the Local Government all converged at the designated venues to exercise their civic responsibilities.
“Although INEC monitors were present in all Wards for the assignment, but the event was characterized 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.”
Recall that the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee led by Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, had declared Aiyedatiwa winner of the party’s primary election, conducted on April 20 and April 21, 2024.
According to Ododo, Aiyedatiwa won in 16 of the 18 local government areas in the state.
The governor was said to have amassed a total of 48,569 votes to beat his closest rival, Mayowa Akinfolarin, who polled 15,343 votes in the election. Olusola Oke got 14,865 votes to place third
Other 15 governorship aspirants on the APC platform 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 that circulated online also revealed that Aiyedatiwa could not vote in his Ilaje Local Government Area as well.