Ondo 2016: Ripples in APC over Akeredolu

• Aspirants plan to align with PDP

• As Abuja forces imposed candidate

• Boroface seeks ticket in another party

By SUNDAY ODIBASHI

AFTER postponement on two occasions, the All Progressives Congress (APC) eventually held its primary on Saturday, September 3 in Ondo State to elect the party’s flag bearer for the November 26, 2016, governorship election. It is, however, curious that the crisis which preceded the conduct of the primary still persists after the emergence of a candidate. The crux of the lingering crisis is that the unexpected happened and the APC appears to be in disarray in Ondo.

Before the primary election was conducted, there were innuendoes that Segun Abraham was sponsored by APC national leader and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Accordingly, some governorship aspirants stepped down for Abraham while others vowed to resist imposition of a candidate by any godfather. To the consternation of all the aspirants and party stakeholders, the perceived anointed aspirant lost in the primary won by Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN).

All the defeated aspirants had accepted the result of the primary election, some congratulated Akeredolu on his victory and further pledged to support the party candidate in the election.

Few days after that episode, the theatre of conflicts opened.
Perhaps, a high level might have taken place which compelled Segun Abraham to reject the result of the APC governorship primary after congratulating Akeredolu earlier, saying the election was nothing but a fraud.

Another aspirant who contested the governorship primary, Olusola Oke, earlier rejected the result of the election. Accordingly, Abraham joined in enlarging that the theatre of conflicts and disharmony of interests in Ondo APC in the build up to the November election.

One of the aspirants who also lost in the primary election, speaking to National Daily on the condition of anonymity, remarked that APC forces from Abuja were behind the victory of Akeredolu; noting that it was a deliberate plot against Tinubu to reduce his political influence both in the party and the South West. The Abuja forces were said to be desperate in ensuring that Tinubu’s anointed candidate was defeated.

The aspirant remarked that the plot has created imminent danger for APC in the Ondo governorship election. It was stated that Tinubu remains the leader in the South West and any attempt to undermine his political authority in the zone will be counter-productive for the party.

The defeated aspirant further said that others who lost in the primary may be tempted to join forces with the PDP candidate, Eyitayo Jegede SAN, who was said to be a better candidate than the APC candidate. The aspirant said that if the PDP makes the right overture, they may align with the party’s candidate because they will not allow external forces outside the South West zone become the new political lords.

It was, however, admitted that the APC primary election was transparent except that the unexpected happened.

The PDP had earlier successfully conducted its primary election in August supervised by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State. Jegede, former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, won the primary election with 760 votes at the International Cultural and Event Centre, Akure. He defeated Saka Lawal, former deputy governor in 2012, who polled 22 votes, beside others.

The PDP does not encounter much internal bickering like the APC and the party is set for electioneering campaign.

Except APC leaders intervenes urgently in the Ondo primary election protests, the party may be having a difficult time in the November election.

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Olusola Oke and some APC leaders were gathered to have formally rejected the result of the primary election, demanding for cancellation.

Governor Muhammed Abubakar of Jigawa State who conducted the election at the International Cultural and Event Centre, Akure, had declared that Akeredolu had 669 votes to emerge winner; Abraham got 635 votes, Oke 583 votes and Senator Ajayi Boroface 471 votes. Abubakar had disclosed that 2,744 voters were accredited for the APC primary election.

After Oke had rejected the election of Akeredolu, Abraham protested that the primary election was a total fraud.

Abraham in a statement, “That Our Democracy May Endure” by Prince Olu Adegboro, Director General of O’Abraham Campaign Organisation, declared in part: “The news 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.” He had earlier acknowledged inter alia that: “… as a true democrat, imbued with the best spirit of sportsmanship, 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.” He declared the result unacceptable, demanding for fresh primary election that will be transparent.

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Meanwhile, National Daily authoritatively gathered that Ajayi Boroface, widely perceived to be the people’s choice in the state, is negotiating the governorship ticket with another political party beside the PDP and APC. His supporters are already mobilizing voters in Ondo State towards the Boroface ticket on another political party platform.

Apparently, if these conflicts of interests persist, APC may be going into the November 26, 2016, governorship election with divided structure.

Meanwhile, the configuration of other indices that may influence the decisions of voters in the governorship election include the voting population of the respective zones, as well as the power equation of state in terms of rotation of the governorship office between the three senatorial districts. Many stakeholders argue that the governorship ticket should go to Ondo North, thus, questioning the choice of Jegede by the PDP who is from Akure, the same zone with Governor Olusegun Mimiko. The governor had, however, argued that no Akure person has ever been governor in the state.

Akeredolu also does not fall in line with the rotational expectation of the people, having come from the Owo axis, adjacent to Akure.