Olusola Oke, a governorship aspirant of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo state has disputed the outcome of Saturday’s governorship primary election of the party.
Mr. Oke who received a total vote of 576 at the end of the exercise, on Sunday, said the “delegate lists” that produced the party’s flag bearer, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, were doctored.
He queried why some sections of the delegate lists given to the aspirants “a night before” the primary election were “totally” different from the one used by the officers that handled the exercise.
Bola Fisayo, the Director-General of Mr. Olusola Oke Campaign Organization, who spoke to SaharaReporters in Akure, alleged that some authentic delegates were also disenfranchised during the poll.
He further told our correspondent that the delegate lists given to the aspirants shortly after meeting with the presidency were different from the list brought by Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Jigawa State who chairs the primary election committee and used for the poll.
“We only received part of the delegate lists that was used for the election around 11 pm on Friday night and none of the aspirants could have the time to really read through it and screen through before the primary election held on Saturday.
“So, some part of the delegate lists given to the aspirants was totally different from the main lists in the hands of the officials that handle the process of the exercise.
“This was why some delegates were also disenfranchised and could not cast their votes during the last Saturday’s exercise because the delegate tags were also issued to unauthorized delegates.
“It was possible and easier for such persons to vote because the delegate tag was issued to them indiscriminately and you would also understand that this contradicts the rules of the primary election that was held on Saturday amidst tight security.
“What I meant by the unauthorized delegates are those who are not constitutionally elected by the members of the State Executive Committee of the party but they voted and they were cleared because their names were imported into the list of delegates given to all the aspirants on Friday night.
“Even the introduction of the delegate manifest which was used to admits voters into the voting venue is open to manipulation but we have made all these positions clear and we shall approach the party’s primary election appeal committee”, he said.
Mr. Oke who came third during the primary election had on Saturday rose up from his seat to congratulate Rotimi Akeredolu who was announced as the winner of the poll and the candidate of the party to contest in the November 26th governorship poll.
Oke, was the 2012 governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also the erstwhile National Legal adviser of the party before defecting to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) prior to the former President Goodluck Jonathan losing the 2015 general election.
