Ahead of the Ondo State Gubernatorial Election, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has on Friday, August 12, vowed not to support the candidate that was allegedly anointed by the Party’s National Leader, Bola Tinubu.
This came at the heel of the allegation that Tinubu, had ordered the party’s Chairmen in the 18 Local Government Areas of Ondo State, to support his ‘anointed’ governorship aspirant.
President Muhammadu Buhari, had earlier maintained that candidates must be given equal opportunities during elections, especially in the recently conducted elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States.
The President, according to many has maintained neutrality in the selection of flag bearers for the APC.
One of the governorship aspirants of the party in Ondo State, Tunji Abayomi, had alleged that Tinubu summoned all the party’s leaders, including the Chairmen of the party at the Local Government level to Lagos, where he directed them to ensure that another aspirant, Segun Abraham, emerged as the candidate of the party at the primary.
However, the Local Government Chairmen in a statement, maintained that they were not ordered to support any aspirant, adding that there would be no room for the imposition of any candidate at the forthcoming primary.
The APC Chairman, Akoko North-West Local Government, Rasheed Badmos, who read the communiqué signed by all the 18 Chairmen at the end of their monthly meeting, affirmed that only a free, fair and credible primary could make the party win the November 26 governorship election.
“We wish to state emphatically that we, the Local Government Chairmen of the APC in Ondo State, hereby dissociate ourselves from the allegation. We know that if this information that the leader (Tinubu) is planning to impose a candidate is true, it is not only worrisome, rather, it will spell electoral doom for our great party in Ondo State.”
They reminded the party’s leadership at the State and National levels that the party must not renege on the assurance to conduct a free and fair primary.
The 18 council Chairmen, also declared that there would not be any alteration of the delegates list, maintaining that the list used for the 2014 state congress of the party which produced them and the current state executive, would be used for the primary.
It added: “We wish to appeal to the national secretariat of our great party, to wade in and ensure that the conduct of a credible primary must not be compromised and the delegates’ list of the state congress of 2014, must not be doctored,” they warned.
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