Some aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akure, the Ondo State capital, took to the streets on Sunday to protest what they termed irregularities and biased conduct of the ward primaries across the state on Saturday.
The ward primaries meant to produce the governorship candidate of the party for the November 16, 2024 governorship election in the state has been marred with non-availability of election materials.
The protesters called for the cancellation of the ward primaries.
The protesters stormed the APC state secretariat in Akure to display their displeasure at the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the ward primaries across the 203 wards of the state.
Most of them are supporters of one of the aspirants, Olushola Oke, and they carried different placards calling on the national secretariat to remove the chairman of the primary election committee and Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo.
They described the process as a daylight robbery and urged the national secretariat of the APC not to allow the state to be embroiled in crisis.
One of the protesters claimed no ward primaries were held, insisting that the guidelines given by the national secretariat of the party were not followed as the committee did not distribute materials to any wards.
The party members warned of likely consequences if an unpopular candidate is imposed on them as it could affect the chances of the party in the governorship election.
Meanwhile, two aspirants and agents of two other contestants raised concerns about the conduct of the primary.
They alleged that based on the conduct of the exercise, plans were made to favour certain aspirants.
Olugbenga Edema, who is one of the 16 aspirants in the race for the APC ticket, decried delays in the distribution of materials and called on the party to investigate the process.
Rotimi Williams, the agent of Oke, took a similar position.
Shola Ajisafe, the agent of Adewale Akinterinwa, backed the narrative by Edema and Willams.
“My people have been calling me. No material has been distributed to them,” Ajisafe who is from Ondo north said, accusing Governor Ododo of working in favour of a candidate.
