APC aspirant faults Ondo Reps primary, demands fresh election

A House of Representatives aspirant for the Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency in Nigeria's Ondo State has strongly condemned the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election, alleging it was a "sham" orchestrated to favor a pre-selected candidate.

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I expected to witness a free and fair election where the people would decide who would represent them, but what I saw was nothing to write home about. There were no elections.

Monday Akinyomi, who contested the May 16 primary, stated that the election was hijacked by state APC leaders. He insisted that no credible electoral process took place, despite the announcement of Mr. Akingboye David as the winner with 9,284 votes. Akinyomi described the event as "nothing to write home about," highlighting confusion over the venue and the absence of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials or recognized APC officials from Abuja and Akure.

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In their quest to force the so-called anointed aspirant on everybody, they hijacked the whole process. The only way they could ensure the anointed aspirant won was to manipulate the process.

Akinyomi further alleged that the primary election appeal committee was unavailable to receive complaints, leaving aggrieved aspirants without a recourse. "I expected to witness a free and fair election where the people would decide who would represent them, but what I saw was nothing to write home about. There were no elections," he stated. He expressed his demand for a cancellation of the exercise and the conduct of a fresh election in line with democratic principles and the Electoral Act.

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I’m not demanding that anyone should be declared winner because there were no elections. I’m demanding cancellation and that the election should be conducted properly, as laid down by the electoral reforms.

Aggrieved aspirants have submitted a petition to the APC National Working Committee, seeking the annulment of the primary. Akinyomi reiterated that his sole demand is for a properly conducted election, emphasizing that the declared result is based on an event that did not truly happen.

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What they declared was just something that never happened. A fresh elec