Ondo APC Gov Primary: Aspirants Express Fear Of Participation By Non Party Members, Petition National Chairman

By Ayodele Oni

Few days to the Governorship Election Primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ondo State, some aspirants have petitioned the National Leadership of the Party over alleged anomalies observed in the voters register to be used for the primary election.

The Primary Election, which will be direct, comes up on Saturday.

According to the petition to the National Chairman of APC, Alhaji Ganduje, with the present status of the voters registers, some members of the party may be deprived of the chance to vote for aspirants of their choice.

The petition also accused one of the aspirants of printing fake membership cards to be distributed to his loyalists.

Signatories to the petition are Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Chief Olusola Oke, SAN, Wale Akinterinwa, Prince Diran Iyantan,

Prof Dayo Faduyile, Hon. Gbenga Edema and Hon. Jimi Odimayo.

They claim “We, the undersigned, are aspirants from the South senatorial district of Ondo State, who have collected forms to participate in the forthcoming Ondo State gubernatorial primary election slated for the 20th April, 2024.

“We have noticed some issues of concern in respect of the said primary election which if not resolved quickly, may hinder the smooth running of the primary and may be detrimental to a free, fair, credible and acceptable election.

“One of the issues is that of the revalidation of the membership register to be used for the primary election.

“While we commend the position of the party to revalidate the existing membership register which is the certified true copies, as certified by INEC, and based on this directive of the party, as aspirants, we have paid over N300m to the coffers of the party to cover the annual dues of all party members whose names appear on the register.

“Unfortunately, the exercise was shrouded in so much of secrecy that a lot of our party members especially our numerous supporters could not have their membership cards revalidated before the committee that came from the Headquarters left Ondo State for Abuja.

“We have been inundated by reports that a particular aspirant has gone ahead with massive printing of fake party slips, which he has distributed to a lot of persons who are not even our party members.

“The intention of this aspirant is to corrupt the integrity of the membership register on the day of the primary by making accreditation of party members impossible as non-party members have already been recruited to flood the venues of the primary election that day.

“This massive and pervasive production of the membership cards will certainly precipitate a situation where everyone holding membership cards, notwithstanding that their names are not on the register, will be allowed to vote without accreditation. Voting without accreditation remains illegal and unacceptable.

“Mr. Chairman should note that Section 77(2) (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, makes it mandatory for all political parties to have a credible membership register which must be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and certified by it, not later than 30 days before the Congress.

“To avoid any Legal or Constitutional conundrum, we advise that the party makes accreditation of party members mandatory at the election venue, and that every member of the party whose name appears on the membership register already certified by INEC should be allowed to vote once he/she is able to present his/her membership slip for accreditation.

“It is our prayer therefore that the leadership of the party make available to us the membership register already validly certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC as the only lawful register to be used by the party for the conduct of the primary election slated for 20/04/2024. No other register can lawfully be used.”