Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, Governor of Ondo State, has been announced winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ward primaries and will be the party’s candidate in the upcoming state gubernatorial election.
Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, declared him the winner in the early hours of Monday, noting that the electoral process was conducted “smoothly” with only minor skirmishes recorded.
In the primaries, Aiyedatiwa garnered a total of 48,569 votes, while his closest rival, Mayowa Akinfolarin, received 15,343 votes, with Olusola Oke securing third place with 14,865 votes.
“I can confirm that the direct mode of primary election adopted in the 2024 Ondo State governorship primary elections held in all 203 electoral wards in all the 18 LGAs in Ondo state,” Ododo said while announcing the winner.
The governor of Ondo State secured victory in 16 of the 18 LGAs, with the exception of Ilaje LGA where he was defeated by third-placed Oke.
Meanwhile, the primary election, conducted on Saturday, had numerous contestants claiming that the elections did not occur at all.
One of such is Folakemi Omogoroye, a female aspirant, who described the process as a “complete rape on democracy,” calling for the cancellation
Omogoroye expressed her dismay at the lack of election officials and voting materials at polling centers, preventing her supporters from voting.”
“I am not going to accept this, and now, I am demanding a cancellation. If this is not addressed, perhaps we’ll end up in court,” she stated, indicating a potential legal action if her calls for a new and transparent election were ignored.
Similarly, dissatisfied party members marched through the streets of Akure, calling for the exercise to be voided and for Ododo to be ousted as the committee’s chairman.
The demonstrators aired their grievances at the APC state secretariat in Akure, citing irregularities in the handling of the ward primaries throughout the 203 wards of the state.
They said the process was a blatant robbery and appealed to the national secretariat of the APC to prevent the state from plunging into crisis.
One protester asserted that no ward primaries took place, maintaining that the rules set by the national secretariat were disregarded since the committee failed to distribute materials to any ward.
The party members cautioned that imposing an unpopular candidate could jeopardize the party’s prospects in the upcoming governorship election.
