2023: Abiodun secures re-election ticket in Ogun

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The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has secured re-election ticket as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

At the governorship primary election held at the MKO Abiola International Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta, Abiodun, defeated his other contenders with total votes of 1,168.

Other contestants were Hon Adekunle Akinlade; Mrs Modele Sarafa-Yusuf; Architect Owodunni Opayemi; Chief Biyi Otegbeye and Chief Remi Bakare who scored zero vote in the election supervised by a 5-man panel headed by Chief Wale Ohu.

The election was monitored by the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by Mrs Ogundana Helen.

The chairman announced Abiodun as the winner of the election after delegates drawn from the 236 wards of 20 local government areas of the state cast their votes.

He explained that 1,180 delegates were accredited for the election.

Ohu said, “Prince Adedapo Abiodun, having scored the highest majority vote cast is hereby declared the winner of the APC governorship primary election in Ogun state and he is hereby declared the governorship candidate of APC to stand in the 2023 governorship election in the state.”

The governor in his acceptance speech described his victory as “one that she will savour for life.”

“This is definitely a day to remember. It is a day of victory – a victory that I will savour for all my life. It is a day the majority of our party men and women spoke with one voice. It is a day that an overwhelming 100 per cent was scored in an electoral process in Nigeria. I am excited. I am grateful and I promise not to let you down.

“A 100 per cent in any exam is the mark of genius. While I do not claim to be one, I am challenged by it. In a democracy, it is a resounding vote of confidence. You know it is one thing to support one on paper, on social media or on face value. This is real life and not mere audio endorsement. In a free and fair contest, it speaks volumes about a people’s love for their own.

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“I will continue to carry out the office of Governor in such a way that those who voted for me today can take pride in having done so. Let me also assure you that those who will be my opponents in the General Elections would be pleasantly surprised and have no choice than to join us in our Vision of ‘Building Our Future Together.’

“During these uncertain times, my highest commitment is to be your bipartisan voice in the State so that we can achieve our shared goals. Our State is one that has been built by our compassion toward each other, our commitment to decency, and our faith in our neighbours.

“Now is the time for us to be more united as a people so that we can genuinely continue to improve on our economy, create more rewarding jobs, provide more effective and easily accessible healthcare, and ensure that every student receives improved education,” Abiodun said.

Meanwhile, two governorship aspirants, Adekunle Akinlade and Biyi Otegbeye, had rejected the Governorship Primary Election Committee headed by Chief Wale Ohu.

The aspirants in a statement jointly signed, addressed to the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, which was made available to newsmen, queried the credential of Ohu which earned him the position to oversee the gubernatorial primary election.

They submitted that Ohu is a partisan politician, and therefore cannot conduct an objective and impartial election.

Akinlade and Otegbeye argued that the Panel did not make the delegates’ forms available to them, as stipulated in the guidelines for the conduct of the exercise.

They submitted that the forms were only made available to Governor Dapo Abiodun.

The statement reads, “The same Mr Wale Ohu was the Chairman of the ward, local government, and state congress committees in Ogun state in 2021. The three congresses ended in controversies and deepened the cleavages within the APC in Ogun state. It is noteworthy that the crisis emanating from the congresses featured prominently before the National Reconciliation Committee of the APC under the able leadership of your good self.

” It was, therefore, surprising that the same man, Mr Wale Ohu was again appointed to serve as Chairman of the gubernatorial primary election in Ogun State. It is intriguing that out of the millions of members of the APC nationwide, Mr Ohu is having an exclusive preserve of the chairmanship of all congresses in Ogun State.

“Our members who have bitterly complained about the partisan conduct of Mr Wale Ohu in all the congresses he had super-intended in Ogun State are therefore not comfortable with the choice of him as Chairman of the election panel. By his antecedents, we do not believe that he can conduct an objective and impartial gubernatorial primary election.

“The guidelines for the conduct of congresses in the APC stipulate that aspirants should pay a prescribed fee for Delegate Forms, which we did, but no forms were made available to us. Furthermore, only one aspirant collected all the Delegate forms in the State, thus hedging the entire process in his favour

“Your Excellency may wish to note that a few hours before the scheduled primaries, no list of delegates for the primary election has been formally published nor did the Primary Election Committee members meet with us in line with standard procedures. This has spurred speculations that the list to be used for the exercise is a disputed list of delegates. Our members are aggrieved about this.

“Against this background, we wish to inform Your Excellency that we have no confidence in the choice of Chairman of the election panel and have fears and reservations about the list of delegates to be used for the exercise.

“The above notwithstanding, we shall be participating in the primary election because of our loyalty to the party and respect for its leadership. However, we wish to place our concerns on record.”

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