By Ben Ogbemudia, with agency reports
A former Secretary to Ekiti State Government, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, was yesterday declared winner of the All Progressives Congress APC primary election.
This came amid protests over alleged irregularities which led to the withdrawal of six aspirants from the exercise.
The aggrieved aspirants that staged the protest at the party’s Secretariat were Senator Dayo Adeyeye; Senator Opeyemi Bamidele; Femi Bamisile; Mr Bamidele Faparusi; Chief Oluwasola Afolabi and Mr Kayode Ojo.
However, declaring the result of the poll, which was held in all the 177 wards, the National APC Governorship Primary Election Committee headed by the Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Baduru, said Oyebanji scored the highest number of votes to defeat other contestants.
According to him, Oyebanji won the election having scored the highest number of votes in all the councils as
A breakdown of the result showed indicated that Oyebanji pulled 101,703 votes. Kayode Ojo came a distant second with 767 votes, while Opeyemi Bamidele garnered 760 votes.
Others are Dayo Adeyeye (691), Femi Bamisile (400), Bamidele Faparusi (376), Popoola (239) and Oluwasola Afolabi (47).
There were 183,560 registered members, while only 107,877 were accredited for the exercise and 104,983 voted.
Addressing journalists, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee appreciated party members for their display of maturity and cooperation which led to the success of the poll.
Baduru noted that the election was transparent and devoid of any manipulation, saying the method for the exercise was reached by all aspirants during a stakeholders meeting held on Wednesday.
He called on the winner to be magnanimous in victory while those who lost should be strong in defeat.
But the governorship primary was greeted with protest by six of the aspirants and their supporters over alleged irregularities.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aspirants and their supporters alleged that the process had been hijacked from the National APC Governorship Primary Election Committee.
Addressing newsmen at the APC Secretariat in Ado-Ekiti, six of the eight aspirants called for the cancellation of the whole exercise.
But, in a swift reaction, Baderu insisted that the primary election would hold as scheduled.
Senator Adedayo Adeyeye, on behalf of other aggrieved aspirants, alleged that the election materials had been distributed overnight to stooges of one of the aspirants, thereby disenfranchising them and their supporters.
“We complained about the primary election being hijacked and a meeting was slated for this morning by 9am between the seven-man primary election committee and all the aspirants.
“Six of us, that are aspirants, are here at the party Secretariat, only for us to receive a text from the committee’s Secretary that the committee will not be able to hold a meeting with us and that they (committee) are going to the fields to monitor the primary.
“This shows that there’s a compromise and we want to tell the whole world that there is no election anywhere. We called for the total halt and stoppage of the Ekiti APC governorship primary,” Adeyeye said.
Corroborating Adeyeye, the duo of Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele and Mr Kayode Ojo, said they have pictorial evidence to show that stooges of one of the aspirants are the Electoral Returning Officers.
They said that, aside from their calls for stoppage of the exercise by the APC National Caretaker Committee led by Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, other
necessary action would be taken at the appropriate time.
In his reaction, the committee’s Secretary, Mr Victor Olabimtan, denied the claims, saying that the exercise has gone on as planned.
“The governorship primary election of Ekiti fixed by the national body of the APC slated for Thursday, January 27, will hold as scheduled in all the 177 wards of Ekiti.
“The APC governorship primary election committee wishes to assure the general public that a level playing field that will guarantee fairness, openness, and transparency, has been adopted by the committee.
“It is an incontrovertible fact that every member of the appointed Electoral Officers for today’s primary election is a bona fide member of Ekiti APC,” Olabimtan said in a statement.
He said that all the names submitted by the aspirants had been added to the existing arrangement and they had been assigned to various wards and local governments.
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“We hereby call on all well-meaning APC members in Ekiti to go to their respective wards to fully exercise their voting right without fear or intimidation.
“The adopted Option A4 is the most transparent form of election. Once again, the Ekiti State APC governorship primary election is holding as scheduled,” Olabimtan said.
Earlier, Oyebanji had urged the six aggrieved governorship aspirants who are not pleased with the outcomes of yesterday’s governorship primary in Ekiti to explore the right of appeal, rather than resorting to the crisis.
Oyebanji, who is branded as Governor Kayode Fayemi’s anointed candidate, said while reacting to the decision of other aspirants to boycott the exercise.
The six, of the eight governorship aspirants of the party, boycotted the election midway into the exercise, citing alleged cases of manipulation and fraud.
Oyebanji decried the claims of undue interference and preferential treatment in his favour, as being made by the aggrieved aspirants.
Addressing newsmen in Ikogosi, Ekiti West Local Government Area, where he voted, during the primary, however, commended Governor Badaru-led panel for being thorough in handling the election.
Oyebanji described the primary as credible, free, and fair, contrary to the position maintained by his co-contestants.
He said that the APC Appeal Panel would handle all the controversial issues surrounding the conduct of the election.
“The guidelines of our party give room for the constitution of appeal committee to attend to whatever grievances anyone has.
“They have the right to their opinions, but the party will come up with its position on whatever they say.
“Concerning allegations of fraud and manipulation, we thank God for the role of technology in our politics.
“The reports I got was that things are going on well. I have seen people queuing for accreditation and voting. The process has gone on seamlessly and peacefully and the committee should be commended,” he said.
