By Jude Opara
The protesters were armed with placards bearing various inscriptions such as “Ondo APC rejects Kangaroo primary election,” “No primary held in Ondo,” and “We want a fresh election,” among others.
Coincidentally, their protest occurred during the National Working Committee meeting, where aggrieved aspirants were being placated to reconcile and support Aiyedatiwa ahead of the governorship election in November.
The leader of the protesters, who is also a party youth leader in Akure South, Kolawole Johnson, declared that only a rerun election could pacify their people back home in Ondo.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, Johnson also appealed to President Bola Tinubu and other party leaders to prevail upon the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to inaugurate a new election committee chairman to oversee the fresh poll.
He stated, “How can you claim to ratify the outcome of a primary and declare a candidate? It indicates foul play. Ondo is APC, and APC is Ondo State. We won’t sit idly by and allow opposition parties to seize Ondo from us.
“That’s why we urge the party to annul the primary. There must be a rerun, and we demand a new person to lead the committee overseeing us. What occurred was not a primary election; it was the sale of the APC ticket. We demand a rerun because we are dissatisfied with the process.
“We, therefore, implore President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene in this matter. We cannot allow the opposition to assume control of Ondo State.”
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