Supporters of Chief Olusola Oke, a governorship aspirant under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene and call for the cancellation of the party’s primary that was held at the weekend in the state, describing the exercise that produced the incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner as a charade, a misnomer, and an abnormality.

Oke’s loyalists, under the aegis of the Movement of Truth (MOT), made this call in Lagos at a press conference addressed by Dr. Benson Enikuomehin and attended by Otunba Stephen Omogbemi, Primate David Liazir, Barr. Kayode Mogbojuri, Miss Precious Eyo, David Olusegun, and Tayo Fakolujo, saying that President Tinubu should do this and order a fresh one that would produce candidates for the party for the forthcoming election, held in November this year.

It would be recalled that the Kogi State Governor and Chairman of the Election Organising Committee, Usman Ododo, had on Monday, April 22, 2024, declared Governor Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the APC gubernatorial ticket for the November 16 election.

Ododo said Aiyedatiwa secured 48,569 votes to defeat his closest challengers: Mayowa Akinfolarin, who had 15,343 votes, and Olusola Oke, who polled 14,915 votes, adding that Aiyedatiwa won in 16 of the 18 LGAs in the state while Oke won in Ilaje Local Government Area.

Enikuomehin, who addressed the press, maintained that no voting was held on that day as, according to him, no electoral materials were sent to any of the local government areas where electoral officers were supposed to be in charge, calling on President Tinubu to request another election in order to save the party.

Enikuomehin, while calling for the cancellation of the exercise, insisted that the people of Ondo would not accept the “charade that was conducted on Saturday,” warning that the APC was not the only party in the state and, therefore, the need to cancel the exercise and order a fresh one that would be free, fair, and credible.

“We must warn that APC is not the only party in Ondo State, so we enjoin the party leadership to do another election that is credible, fair, and free. Whoever wins will be supported.

“If APC should go ahead and accept this shenanigan, the people of Ondo won’t take it properly, and it may affect the chances of the party,” Enikuomehin warned.

Speaking further, Enikuomehin, while noting that the group’s support for Oke was not a mistake because of his pedigree and capability, pointed out that Governor Aiyedatiwa, even though he was qualified to contest the election, argued that his emergence would shortchange the people of Ondo South since he would not be able to go beyond his first term in office, going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

He, however, maintained that the exercise conducted last Saturday was a charade, saying that the movement to which he belongs expected a credible, reliable, and transparent election to be held, “but the opposite was what transpired on the day of the primary.”

“From the information gathered, 172,000 persons who paid their dues in the 18 local governments and 203 wards will be allowed to vote through option A4. That is the procedure, which is sine qua non in any election.

“It was alleged that three to four days before the election, some people had already printed membership cards; we didn’t bother since we expected the due process would be adopted on D-Day,” he alleged.

Enikuomehin, while further faulting the primary exercise, said that contrary to the promise made by the secretary of the committee, Senator Ovie Omo Agege, that election materials would be distributed in all the wards, it came as a shock for them to have results without any election taking place.

He alleged further that the chairman of the election committee, Governor Ododo, who later showed up on election day at about noon, said the election materials had been distributed since 7 am, a statement that he said equally came as a shock to all the agents and some aspirants who had been waiting as early as 6 am at the distribution centre.

“It came as a surprise that he (the chairman) could not answer the questions thrown at him. Article 23 of the APC constitution, which has to do with the distribution of election materials, was not followed. I challenged anyone to produce a single paper of the official result sheets; there was none.”

“The governor, who is also from my own ward, did not vote. You know, in this kind of event, the press crew would be there and capture it. Let them show the world the video clip where the governor voted,” he queried.

“If you have something on nothing, it won’t stand. There was no election but an allocation of results. Ododo came allocated results and relocated to Abuja,” he alleged.

Also speaking, Barr. Mogbojuri also alleged that there was a calculated attempt to destabilise the South West zone, saying the national chairman of the APC, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, “seems to be working for the opposition so that the party could lose Ondo State.”

Mogbojuri warned that the opposition parties might use the chairman’s suspension against APC, which order he said had not been vacated by any court of law, so that the party would not have control in Ondo.

He, therefore, called for the cancellation of the exercise, saying that the people of South West were calling on President Tinubu to do this and order a fresh primary in the state.