SaharaReporters gathered that the protesters were sympathetic to Segun Abraham’s candidacy for Ondo State governor.
Hundreds of party supporters and residents in Ikare-Akoko, Ondo State staged a protest on Wednesday against the alleged ‘manipulation’ of Saturday’s All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election held amidst tight security in the State.
The protesters who took to the main streets of the town on Wednesday accused some recognized political leaders of the community of deliberately ‘ganging-up’ on and ‘selling-out’ against the common interest of people of the community.
Many demonstrators, armed with placards bearing different inscriptions, called for the immediate cancellation of the primary election and ordered for a rerun poll that would be devoid of rancor.
The protesters also hurled abuses on some community leaders in the town and further accused them of working against the united interest of the people.
They specifically accused two federal lawmakers from Akoko Land, Senator Ajayi Borrofice, known as "Asiwaju of Akoko Land," and Friday Stephen Olemija, of working against the interest of the region and called for their joint immediate removal from the National Assembly.
SaharaReporters gathered that the protesters were sympathetic to Segun Abraham’s candidacy for Ondo State governor.
Our correspondent reported that it had earlier took the intervention of a detachment of security agencies including the men of the Nigeria Army to prevent a further break down of law and order in the community.
During the protest, the aggrieved party supporters and indigenes made attempts to set ablaze the private building of Mr. Olemija.
Mr. Olemija, who is representing Akoko Northwest/Northeast Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, was accused of working against his kinsmen, Mr. Abraham.
The protesters who stormed the apartment of the federal lawmaker threw stones at the residents and sealed it off with fetish items, preventing him and members of his family from entry into the house.
A party supporter and indigene of the community, Morenike Ibirogba, who spoke with a SaharaReporters correspondent, called for the immediate cancellation of the primary election results.
“We are calling on the party’s national leaders to cancel this election conducted on Saturday because more revelations have emerged that imply it was rigged and manipulated in favor of Mr. Romiti Akeredolu.
“We now know that the delegate list was manipulated and doctored in his (Akeredolu’s) favor. The election is nothing different from a sham. Let the leaders conduct a fresh poll that will be acceptable by all aspirants.
“Nothing was free and fair in that Saturday election and I want to use this opportunity to call on the Commissioner of Police [Hilda Ibifuro-Harrison] to launch an investigation into the allegations that some of her officers were used in perpetrating such an evil act,” he said.
Mr. Abraham has already filed an appeal to challenge the emergence of Rotimi Akeredolu as the candidate of the party ahead of the November 26 governorship election in the State.
Mr. Abraham, an anointed candidate of the party’s main national financier, Bola Tinubu, is the second runner-up in the APC governorship primary election held last Saturday.
He had on Sunday conceded victory to congratulate Mr. Akeredolu and pledged to work for the interest of the party but surprisingly made a U-turn on Tuesday night to challenge the results of the poll.
A statement posted on Mr. Abraham’s official social media wall seen by SaharaReporters titled “That our democracy may endure” alleged that the delegates’ list used for last Saturday’s primary election of the APC was doctored.
“I congratulated Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, who purportedly emerged as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the September 3rd gubernatorial primary election in Ondo State, in the face of palpable disbelief and surprise on the outcome of the primary election by my numerous supporters.
“The news, however, is that sordid and staggering facts have since emerged on how the process leading to the primary election was manipulated and compromised.
“It is now beyond doubt that the delegate list used on the day of the primary election was doctored and strangely injected with a mind blowing number of delegates who are neither executive members of our party nor statutory delegates,” Mr. Abraham said.
He added that the outcome of the election was unacceptable and further vowed to appeal against the results for justice and peace to reign among the over twenty aspirants that jostled for the party’s ticket during the election.
“To say the least, the manipulation of the delegate list, highly skewed accreditation process and the entire processes leading to the conduct of the primary election has cast the darkest stain on the result of the primary election held on the 3rd of September, 2016.
“Against this background, coupled with the change and integrity that our party preaches and practices, and having widely consulted with my numerous supporters, I have reached the hour of decision to fall back on the internal mechanism of our great party to seek redress so that the end of justice will be served and, more importantly, our democracy may endure,” the statement read.
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