Ondo 2020: Group gives condition for direct primary
A support group for the re-election of Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the Ibi Giga Ambassadors, has said that the only condition for direct primaries to be used by the National Leadership of the party was for the updated party’s register of 2014 to be used.
This, it said, was because two aspirants have begun illegal registration of party members and issuance of APC membership cards.
The group who spoke at a press briefing in Akure said the two aspirants embarked on the illegal registration because of expectation that direct primary would be adopted for the Ondo APC.
Deputy Director General of the group, Barr. Alaba Eniola-Ajipe, who read out a letter addressed to National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said the 2014 membership register of the Ondo APC remained the authentic register to be used for direct primary in the state.
Barr. Alaba urged Oshiomhole to stop the two aspirants from injecting fiticious names into what he termed concocted membership register.
Alaba stated that the two aspirants intended to use the concocted membership register in towns bordering Osun state ‘as these towns are mostly populated by Osun indigenes living here in Ondo state and doing their legitimate businesses for several years now.’
He warned that any illegal injection of names as is currently being done by those he described as desperate elements was inimical to the good image of the APC and capable of creating avoidable and unnecessary crisis in the state.
According to him, “The aspirants have perfected plans to ‘smuggle’ into Ondo State, people from Osun State who would appear as eligible voters in their various polling Units’ on the day of the primary election if the primary eection is direct mode.
“The other aspirant has also gone as far as to Lagos state to collate thousands of party membership slips to be used by his supposed supporters thereby designing a new party membership registration forms which have been distributed secretly across the various Wards in Ondo State.
“We are concerned that this unscrupulous action, if not quickly addressed, portends grave dangers to the fortunes of our great party as we prepare for the party primaries in July 2020 and the gubernatorial elections in October 2020.
“We want to put on record that the party membership registration that was done in 2014 formed the existing APC Party Register in Ondo State and it is the only known party membership register that is in existence in Ondo State as at today. The National Party Secretariat is yet to give a directive for the update of Party Membership Registration in Ondo State.
“On our own part, we want to put on record that we are mobilising for the re-election of the incumbent Governor whether the mode of the primary election is direct or indirect.
“However. we are compelled to raise this alarm as we crave for a level playing field as we go into the primary election. We are concerned that if we allow some desperate Aspirants and their cohorts to tinker with the Party Register, it will tell on the integrity of the selection process and may spark unnecessary reactions that will affect the peace that we currently enjoy in Ondo State.”
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