Fresh crisis hits Ondo APC over deputy gov slot

Ahead of the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State, notable leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have said the party is heading to doom if it insists on the choice of Mr Agboola Ajayi as the running mate of the party’s candidate, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN.

 

Among the notable chieftains of the party insisting that Agboola should not run as APC’s deputy governor include Hon Bola Ilori and Chief Samuel Ikujuminu.

 

While Ilori made his view known on his Facebook page, Chief Ikujuni issued a statement on Sunday.

 

According to them, going ahead with Ajayi as the deputy governorship candidate would only spell doom for the party.

 

They therefore called on the leadership of APC to substitute Ajayi’s name with a more sellable candidate before the deadline given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) expires.

 

ILori said that, “Even when the National Working Committee (NWC) just upheld the fraudulent primaries that produced Akeredolu, the nexus of fraud in the party is trying to perpetrate another fraud to enforce the initial fraud.

 

“And while we are still on the fraudulent primaries through fake delegates and delegates’ list padding that produced Akeredolu as the candidate, another fraud is also being foisted on the party as the deputy governor. This is a man whose election was annulled by the courts for certificate forgery,” he said.

 

Read also: ONDO: Oke angry with Oyegun, dumps APC, Borofice, others to follow

 

On his part, Ikujuminu said it would lead to another crisis if “two brothers” are allowed to be the governorship and deputy governorship candidates of the party.

 

Both men insisted that Ajayi can not be allowed as the running mate to Akeredolu because he hails from Kiribo in Eseodo local government, which happens to be the same town and council area where Akeredolu’s mother is from.

 

The crisis in the state chapter of the party grew deeper weekend, as one of the leading aspirants in the September 3 Ondo APC governorship primaries, Olusola Oke, discarded the party for Alliance for Democracy (AD), on the reason of alleged injustice perpetrated by some leaders of the party over the primary election.

 

The national leadership of the party led by its Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, rejected the recommendation of the NWC that the primary election which produced Akeredolu should be cancelled for a fresh election.

By Ebere Ndukwu …

 

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