Ondo APC Primary: Appeal committee receives three petitions

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Appeal Committee says it has received three petitions in respect of the just concluded governorship primary in Ondo State.

Gov. Usman Ododo of Kogi State led committee that supervised conduct of the election declared Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa the winner.

Aiyedatiwa, who contested against 16 other aspirants, was declared the party’s candidate for the Nov. 16 governorship election.

Addressing a news conference, on Monday in Akure, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, the head of the five-member appeal committee, said that petitions were received from Mr Olugbenga Edema, Mr  Jimi Odimayo, and  Mr Wale Akinterinwa.

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Abubakar, a former governor of Bauchi state, said that the aspirants’ complaints were that the primary did not hold across the 203 wards in the state and the process was fraught with irregularities.

“So far, we have received three petitions; one from Olugbenga Edema, Jimmy Odimayo and the last one from Adewale Akinterinwa.

“The situation I met on ground was an inconclusive election that needed to be repeated in one local government.

“They were able to repeat the election in that local government and by early this morning, they were able to declare the results of the primary. It is traditional in APC to set up a committee like this, in order to follow up on the fallout of the primary election.

“It’s as a result of this that I invited the gentlemen of the press to be here today, so that I can announce to them, the presence of this committee and the readiness of this committee to receive whatever complaints, as a fallout from the primary election,” the committee head said.

Abubakar said that the committee would be expecting more petitions from other aggrieved aspirants between Monday and Tuesday afternoon.

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According to him, the secretary of the committee, Mr Obiocha Israel, will be available at the APC secretariat in Akure for two days to receive petitions.

“The committee will be here till Tuesday to collect whatever complaints that may be. Let me use this opportunity to assure members of our party that this committee intends to be thorough and transparent in treating any complaint that we will receive.

“I can assure you that within a space of a few days, we will consider the total number of petitions we received and render a report to the national headquarters of our party, before the party takes a final decision on the issue of the primary.

“I am calling on all the aspirants that have complaint(s) to please, feel free to forward it to us. We have since established our office at the headquarters of the party,” he said.

(NAN)