Lucky Aiyedatiwa has won the Ondo All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election, ending a voting process that started on Saturday.
The Chairman of the election committee and the Governor of Kogi State Usman Ododo declared him the winner of the exercise in the early hours of Monday.
”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 governor as the winner of the election.
The Ondo State governor coasted to victory in 16 of the 18 local government areas.
Aiyedatiwa amassed 48,569 votes in the primary to beat his closest rival Mayowa Akinfolarin who polled 15,343 votes in the election. Olusola Oke’s 14,865 votes got him the third position. The governor lost Ilaje LGA to third-placed Oke.
An excited Aiyedatiwa in his acceptance speech, thanked party members for voting him in as the APC flagbearer.
“To all our party members, I hereby accept, wholeheartedly, the responsibility conferred on me as the candidate of our party by the votes of our members who turned out in large numbers on the 20th of April 2024,” he said.
“Democracy sometimes, after a contest like this, comes with discordant tunes. But this is not the time to hold grudges against anyone but for all of us to come together to work for the success of our great party so as to remain in power,” the governor said.
With the primary settled, Aiyedatiwa’s attention now shifts to the main election billed for November.
His victory came about three months after he assumed office as the governor of the South-West state, taking over from his late principal Rotimi Akeredolu who died of prostate cancer following months of battling the illness.
Protest Breaks Out In Ondo Over APC Gov Primary
Protesters demand cancellation of APC ward primaries in Ondo State on Sunday, April 21, 2024
Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akure, the Ondo State capital, took to the streets on Sunday to protest what they termed irregularities and biased conduct of the ward primaries across the state on Saturday.
The protesters called for the cancellation of the ward primaries.
The protesters stormed the APC state secretariat in Akure to display their displeasure to the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the ward primaries across the 203 wards of the state.
Most of them are supporters of one of the aspirants, Olushola Oke, and they carried different placards calling on the national secretariat to remove the chairman of the primary election committee and Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo.
They described the process as a daylight robbery and urged the national secretariat of the APC not to allow the state to be embroiled in crisis.
One of the protesters claimed no ward primaries were held, insisting that the guidelines given by the national secretariat of the party were not followed as the committee did not distribute materials to any wards.
The party members warned of likely consequences if an unpopular candidate is imposed on them as it could affect the chances of the party in the governorship election.
Ododo had on Saturday announced that polls would be conducted in all 13 wards of Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state by noon on Sunday.
“Having received reports of the primary election from the 203 wards in the 18 local governments of Ondo State, the primary election committee has decided that election will be conducted in all the 13 Wards of Okitipupa local government with total validated registered members of 9,515, because of validated reports that the exercise did not hold in the local government due to late arrival of materials and personnel as a result of logistics challenges.
“Election in Okitipupa local government shall be conducted 12 noon on Sunday 21st April 2024. The final collation of the results will be done thereafter,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, two aspirants and agents of two other contestants raised concerns about the conduct of the primary.
They alleged that based on the conduct of the exercise, plans were made to favour certain aspirants.
Olugbenga Edema, who is one of the 16 aspirants in the race for the APC ticket, decried delays in the distribution of materials and called on the party to investigate the process.
Rotimi Williams, the agent of Oke, took a similar position.
Shola Ajisafe, the agent of Adewale Akinterinwa, backed the narrative by Edema and Willams.
“My people have been calling me. No material has been distributed to them,” Ajisafe who is from Ondo North said, accusing Governor Ododo of working in favour of a candidate.
Incidents of violence marred the election in Ifedore leading to cancellation of results.
The primary which was held on Saturday saw several of the contestants alleging the elections didn’t take place anywhere
Omogoroye also lamented the absence of election officials and voting materials at voting centres, saying her supporters could not exercise their right to vote.
“I am not going to accept it, and now, I am calling for cancellation and if this is not done, maybe we’ll meet in the court,” she said while threatening legal action if her demand for a fresh and transparent election were not met
The protesters took their dissatisfaction to the APC state secretariat in Akure alleging irregularities in the conduct of the ward primaries across the 203 wards of the state.
They described the process as a daylight robbery and urged the national secretariat of the APC not to allow the state to be embroiled in crisis.
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