Ondo 2024: Aiyedatiwa coasts to victory

..As supporters of aggrieved aspirants storm Party secretariat

…Aspirants call for cancellation of election, allege irregularities

By Akintunde Jacobs, Akure

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo state, has emerged as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the forthcoming November 16th, 2024 governorship election in the state.

Aiyedatiwa was declared winner of the governorship primary election which took place on Sunday by the Chairman of the APC Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Usman Ododo at the International Culture and Event Centre, The Dome, in Akure, the Ondo state capital.

Ododo, while announcing Aiyedatiwa as winner, said he scored 48,569 votes to beat other 15 aspirants.

He said the other aspirants score is as follows: Wale Akinterinwa; 1,952, Olusola Oke; 14,915, Mayowa Akinfolarin; 15,343, Jimoh Ibrahim; 9,456, Isaac Kekemeke; 1,045, Gbenga Edema; 395, Olamide Ohunyeye; 424, Jimi Odimayo; 490, Olusoji Ehinlanwo; 492, Morayo Lebi; 290, Diran Iyantan; 348, Francis Faduyile; 353, Ifeoluwa Oyedele; 462, Funmilayo Waheed-Adekojo; 529 and Funke Omogoroye; 115.

While Ododo said that the total numbers of voters; 171, 922, accredited voters; 95178, total vote cast; 95178, valid votes; 95178, invalid vote; nil.

According to Ododo, who was flanked by the secretary of the committee, Ovie Omo-Agege and other members of the committee said; “reports from the field revealed that the primary election went on peacefully, and the end of the exercise, votes were counted and recorded.

“By the power conferred on the committee, and in line with APC guide lines for the nomination of the candidate, of the party in the general election, I Ahmed Usman Ododo, Governor of Kogi State and the Chairman of the Committee and the Returning Officer of the Ondo State APC governorship primary election, held on the 20th, 2024, hereby declared that Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest numbers of votes cast in the direct primary election, is hereby return elected and declare winner.”

Some aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Ondo state, on Sunday stormed the Secretariat of the party, in Akure, to express displeasure over alleged irregularities in the conduct of Saturday’s governorship primary election across the 18 local government areas in the state.

The protesters who were supporters of Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa and Jimi Odimayo, alleged that the primary was fraught with irregularities and illegalities.

The demonstrators, who stormed the Secretariat, however, demanded for the suspension of Kogi state Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo from the party, who led other seven-man committee to conduct the primary.

While flaunting different protest banners and placards such as “No election in Ondo.,” “APC primary electoral officers failed to show up in all wards in Ondo State,” “We demand fairness and justice in APC primary election in Ondo,” they alleged that; “Ododo is a criminal and a thief. In a saner clime, Ododo by now will be in jail. Election crime is a serious crime. You cannot come to the wards of our people and start terrorising them against their will.”

The placards also include inscriptions like, “No mandate for Aiyedatiwa, We’re calling for fresh primary election,” “NWC of APC, No Mandate for Aiyedatiwa,” “Saturday ‘s APC primary in Ondo was a sham,” “APC Must Not Collapse In Ondo State,” “Primary Election materials were not distributed in all wards across Eighteen LGAs in Ondo State,” among others.

They, however, called for fresh primary elections for the interest of peace and tranquility.

Addressing journalists, the Director General for Olusola Oke Campaign Organisation, Ondo Central Senatorial District, Adeniran Oyebade who spoke on behalf of the protesters said the election was a broad-day robbery.

His words: “We are protesting against our mandate that was stolen. It was  broad-daylight robbery, a monumental disaster. APC delegated some people to Ondo State to conduct the primary; apparently, that was never done. They remained in Akure and started writing results. They wrote the results of 203 wards all across Ondo State, taking the mandate of the people into their own hands.”

He alleged that, “at the end of the day, we started seeing different results flying around stating one particular candidate won the election, but that never happened.”

“APC as a party is about to set Ondo State on fire, and we will never take this lightly. We want the most popular candidate, a candidate that knows the people; we want the candidate whose name is a household brand in every part of Ondo State. We do not want an unpopular or controversial candidate; we don’t want a wife beater. We want someone with a sound mind,” Oyebade claimed.

He also claimed that “Ododo should be suspended from the party. Ododo is a criminal and a thief. In a saner clime, Ododo by now will be in jail. Election crime is a serious crime. You cannot come to the wards of our people and start terrorising them against their will. What we want is the cancellation of the election because any election did not take place. There is no need to say that the election was inconclusive.”

Ade Adeniyi and Bola Fisayo who also spoke said APC members, who are eligible to vote for their preferred aspirants, waited for the conduct of the poll but all to no avail.

As at the time of filing this report, the Ododo’s seven-man committee that came to conduct the primary is yet to announce the winner of the governorship primary.

Similarly another aspirant, Engr. Folakemi Omogoroye, vehemently denounced the process, alleging widespread absence of election and calling for its immediate cancellation.

The primary, scheduled for April 20th, 2024, failed to take place as anticipated, leaving Engr. Omogoroye and her supporters frustrated. “There was no election anywhere,” she asserted, decrying what she described as a “complete rape on democracy.”

Expressing her dismay, Engr. Omogoroye lamented the absence of election officials and voting materials at voting centres, rendering her and her supporters unable to exercise their right to vote. Despite her meticulous preparation and financial commitment to the party, she found herself circumvented  to participate in the democratic process.

In a bold move, Engr. Omogoroye called upon the party’s leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to intervene and annul the purported election.

Her words: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave us women a renewed hope agenda that prompted me to go into the race with assurance that the election is going to be free and fair and that was why I went into this contest.

“But to my greatest surprise,  the reverse is the case. I was on the field from 7am, no election materials were seen, not to talk of seeing any party officials or INEC officials and a voice came up that Aiyedatiwa has won, Aiyedatiwa has won.

“I don’t know how that happened and I don’t know how the party is going to take that, because I, Engr. Folakemi Omogoroye will not accept that; because I believe in the party, I have been in the party for years, and this is the time we have to make the party better that other parties will emulate, but this is not the case.

“Other parties are now making a mockery of our party, all my political followers from all the books and crannies of Ondo state have been calling me that the same thing happened all over.”

She emphasised the urgency the situation is required to be redressed, warning of dire consequences for the party’s future in Ondo State if swift action is not taken.

Furthermore, she threatened legal action if her demand for a fresh and transparent election was not met promptly.

“I am not going to accept it, and now, I am calling for cancellation and if this is not done, maybe we’ll meet in court,” she added.

Also, the Governor of Kogi state and Chairman of the Ondo state governorship primary election committee, Ahmed Ododo, has explained reasons for declaring the Saturday election inconclusive.

Ododo, in a statement on Sunday said that the late arrival of materials and personnel to 13 wards in Okitipupa council area of state, the All Progressive Congress Governorship Primary Election Committee, necessitated the rescheduling of the exercise on Sunday.

According to him, “The rerun election would take place in all the 13 wards of Okitipupa Local Government with the total number of 9,515 validated registered party members.”

According to him, this is because of validated reports that the exercise did not hold in the Local government due to late arrival of materials and personnel as a result of logistics challenges.