Ganduje, aggrieved aspirants’ meeting ends in deadlock
Kekemeke absent; protesters demand cancellation of poll Aspirants yet to withdraw petitions despite chairman’s appeal
The maiden meeting between the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and aggrieved aspirants in last Saturday’s primary election in Ondo State ended in a deadlock yesterday, with party officials stating that dialogue would continue.
Recall that the Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo-led APC primary election committee had announced Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the primary held on April 20 and 21, respectively. Aiyedatiwa defeated 15 other aspirants who contested the primary to emerge as the candidate of the party ahead of the November 16 governorship election in the state.
But six aspirants, including the senator representing Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim, Olusola Oke, Folakemi Omogoroye, Olugbenga Edema, Jimi Odimayo, and Wale Akinterinwa, had filed petitions challenging Aiyedatiwa’s victory.
Following this, Ganduje had invited the aspirants, as well as Aiyedatiwa, who clinched the party’s ticket, for reconciliation ahead of the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State.
Although the APC National Vice Chairman (South West), Isaac Kekemeke, who also contested the election, was absent, 14 other aspirants and Governor Aiyedatiwa attended the meeting.
Recall that the primary election witnessed a large turnout of party members but suffered hitches of violence and protests by some aspirants who faulted the conduct of the exercise and demanded outright cancellation.
However, during the opening session yesterday, Ganduje appealed to the aspirants to sheathe their swords in the interest of the party.
“It is already a ruling party; our prayer is that it should continue to be a ruling party in Ondo State. So, you see, we are here to appeal to you so that we can succeed in maintaining this state as an APC state. I appeal to you; we are all practitioners in this game, in this politics, in this agenda.
“If you recall, I contested for governorship in 1999; I lost. I couldn’t become governor until after 16 years. I was patient enough.
I was praying, and I eventually became governor after 16 years. So, I can’t call you aspirants who lost. You are aspirants who will be successful tomorrow,” he said.
However, addressing newsmen after the closed-door meeting, the deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, Duru Meseko, said the party has resolved to “continue dialogue with all the aspirants individually and collectively to be able to have a common ground for the forthcoming election in the state, to work together as a united family.”
Top officials told Daily Trust that none of the aggrieved aspirants had agreed to withdraw their petitions during the meeting.
Protesters storm APC HQ, demand cancellation of Ondo primary
Meanwhile, protesters from Ondo State stormed the premises of the APC in the Wuse 2 area of Abuja on Thursday, chanting songs and demanding the cancellation of last Saturday’s primary election in Ondo State.
The protesters, who were dispersed by security operatives at the entrance gate of the APC national secretariat, proceeded to the adjacent Barcelona hotels, where they were equally forced to move to the expressway linking Banex Plaza with the federal secretariat.
They carried placards and banners with different inscriptions such as “We reject this fraud called APC primary,” “We want cancellation of this sham called election,” and “We want a fresh primary poll in Ondo State,” among others.
Addressing newsmen, the leader of the protesters, Kolawole Johnson, asked President Bola Tinubu and other party leaders to prevail on the National Working Committee (NWC) to cancel last Saturday’s primary and inaugurate a new chairman of the primary election committee to conduct a free primary.
He said, “What happened was the assigning of figures. We want the party to cancel the primary and bring a new person to conduct the primary, not Ododo. We, therefore, invite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to look into this. We don’t want the opposition to take over Ondo State.”