Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has directed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to return the cost of nomination and expression of interest forms to those who lost in the party’s primary for local government election.
There has been General discontent among those who lost in the primary which held across the state recently.
Makinde gave the directive to assuage ill-feelings among party faithful who had hoped to secure certain positions in the forthcoming local government election. The election is slated for May.
The last elected chairmen and councilors under the aegis Oyo State chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) also condemned the move to organise an election while both parties await the decision of the Supreme Court on the propriety or otherwise of their sack by Makinde on May 29, 2019.
The governor’s directive for a refund was contained in a statement by the State Secretary of the party, Alh. Wasiu Adeleke, on Monday.
The statement read: “Sequel to the announcement of the successful candidates of our party for the 2021 Local Government elections and in order to promote brotherliness in the party, the Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde in unison with the entire state executives of the party in Oyo State have ordered the full repayment of the money paid by aspirants who lost out in the recently concluded primary elections.
“This we believe will strengthen the strong bond we share as one big happy family and we believe that our party will win all the 351 wards and the 33 local government councils we have in the state.
“The process to refund the money will start by refunding all our female aspirants this week and others will follow.
“We enjoin all our party members to continue to mobilize, support and do all they can to ensure that the party continues to grow stronger and better.”
