Scores of protesting members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo state, on Thursday, stormed the state secretariat of the party in Akure, to register their displeasure over alleged plans not to change the delegates list for the rescheduled primary election for the Akoko South East/Akoko South West Federal Constituency of the state.
The protesters alleged the party leadership in the state has failed to comply with the directives of the National leadership on the conduct of the fresh election to pick a candidate for the federal constituency for the next election.
It will be recalled that a Federal High Court, sitting in Akure, had ordered a fresh election for the Akoko South East/Akoko South West Federal Constituency that produces a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy, Adegboyega Adefarati, as the candidate of the party.
The order was sequel to the agreement between the parties involved in the suit who agreed to settle out of court and agreed to the terms of the settlement to conduct a fresh primary election in the overall interest of the party.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Olakunle Oyegoke, explained that there were directives from the national secretariat of the party that there must be a new congress to select new delegates but said the state leadership had kept mum over the directives.
Oyegoke who maintained that the election did not hold in the constituency during the party’s primary, said this was one of the reasons the candidacy of Adefarati was being challenged in court and warned the party leadership not to guide against losing the federal constituency to the opposition.
He said “There are about four cases in court, the other cases in court are still continuing and we are still expecting judgment to be given in respect of other cases in court.
“The prayers of the four cases in court are different, one has been heard and we are still expecting that the others will also pass judgment.
“There is a piece of information passed to us this morning that the party at the national level has issued a directive that there must be a congress, a new congress.
“And by conduct that congress there must be a new process of selection of delegates at the ward levels.
“Election is a process, before now the party has intimated INEC with its processes of election, but unfortunately we heard that there is another director from the party that new process of electing new delegates that would vote has just been sent to the state.
“We want to say that it is abnormal, even in the letter they said there would be an indirect primary for who becomes delegate at the ward.
“Any election at the ward must be direct primary, so if you are now directing that, then who votes to elect who votes at the primary?
“There is an abnormal situation affecting the Federal Constituency and we want the whole world to know the illegality being perpetrated in our constituency. The Party is seriously derailing, which of course contravenes the electoral act and process.
Also Speaking, Alhaji Alonge Abubakar from Akoko South West, said “We mobilized here to protest this abnormality.
“The form is said to be obtained between October 18 to 20th 2022, between that period and now nobody is here to collect the form, we have been monitoring the secretariat since the 18th and as you can see, the office is desolate.
“Nobody is here to collect form, no bank to pay to, nobody is doing anything in respect to the collection and the day is far spent. We have been calling the state chairman of the party but he is not picking up his calls.
“We have contacted the national secretariat but they claimed ignorance of the development in the constituency. We think that all these things are illegal and a negation of the process.
“We are saying that there were processes that had been completed earlier, delegates had been selected, even a case in court challenging the delegate selection then. So, it is prejudicial for them to know to say there should be a new delegate when there is a case in court.
“The delegates that had been submitted to INEC, that they sent the certified true copy to the state and contestants should be used in this election.”
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