APC Governorship Primary: Two Aspirants Reject Election Committee Chairman

Two governorship aspirants on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Adekunle Akinlade and Biyi Otegbeye have rejected the chairmanship of the election committee and passed a vote of no confidence on the Chairman of the governorship election primaries, Wale Ohu.

The aspirants, in a press statement jointly signed copies of which were made to journalists in Abeokuta on Wednesday, also expressed reservations on the delegate list used for the exercise held at the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abeokuta, the state capital.

This was contained in a petition addressed to the National Chairman of the Party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

Akinlade and Otegbeye recalled that it was the same Wale Ohu who conducted the wards, local government and state congresses of the Party in Ogun, adding that the three congresses ended in controversies and deepened the cleavages within the Party in Ogun State.

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They also reminded the National Chairman that the outcome of the three congresses conducted by Ohu featured prominently before the National Reconciliation Committee of the APC that was then headed by Adamu.

“It was now surprising that the same Wale Ohu was again appointed to serve as the Chairman of the gubernatorial primary election in Ogun State.

“Our members who have bitterly complained about the partisan conduct of Mr Wale Ohu in all the congresses he had super-intended in Ogun State are therefore not comfortable with the choice of him as chairman of all the election panels.

“By his antecedent, we do not believe that he has the capacity to conduct an objective and impartial gubernatorial primary election.”

The two aspirants also complained that they were not included in the process of delegates selection for the primaries, alleging that only one aspirant collected all the delegate forms in the State.

They added that a few hours before the election, no list of delegates for the primary election was published nor did the Committee meet with them in line with standard procedure.

“The guidelines for the conduct of the congresses in the APC stipulates that aspirants should pay a prescribed fee for Delegate Forms, which we did but no forms were made available to us.

“Furthermore, only one aspirant collected all the delegate forms in the State, thus hedging the entire process in his favour. Your Excellency may wish to note that a few hours before the scheduled primaries, no list of delegates for the primary has been formally published nor did the Primary Election Committee members meet with us in line with standard procedures.

“This has spurred speculations that the list to be used for the exercise is a disputed list of delegates. Our members are aggrieved about it.

“Against this background, we wish to inform your Excellency that we have no confidence in the choice of Chairman of the election panel and have fears and reservations about the list of delegates to be used for the exercise,” the joint statement partly read.

However, both aspirants said they would participate in the primaries currently holding at the MKO Stadium in Abeokuta, the state capital.