Ekiti 2022: Bombshell of vote buying allegations during primaries

• Oni paid delegates N150,000
• Kola paid delegates N300,000

The representatives of former Governor Segun Oni and Bisi Kolawole on Sunday were at dagger throat over the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State for the governorship election in the state. Oni lost the primary election to Kolawole, who was sponsored by former Governor Ayo Fayose.

The spokesman of Segun Oni, speaking of “Fire Crackers” on Galaxy Television on Sunday monitored by National Daily from Lagos, protested that the PDP primary election was manipulated against his principal, and in favour of the winner anointed by Fayose. He said that Oni is a popular politician in Ekiti State and would be moving to another political, which will be decided this week, to contest the governorship election against the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State. He said that because of the popularity of Oni, APC threw a party that Oni did not win the PDP primary election.

The spokesperson of the PDP governorship candidate refuted insinuations that the party primary was manipulated, saying that the party conducted open primary election recorded with cameras by participants and observers. He challenged anyone alleging electoral infractions to provide evidence to prove the allegations, noting that all aspirants endorsed every stage in the electoral process conducted by Governor Udom Emmanuel.

The spokesman for Kola spokesman alleged that Oni gave delegates N150,000 at the primary to vote for him. But the spokesman of Oni quickly said that “It is a lie.”

The Oni loyalist rather alleged that Bisi Kolawole was giving people N300,000, some N250,000 to vote for him. He noted that “because of the way Fayose is, some people did not get anything.”

The loyalist of Kolawole stated that Oni never won any primary election in the PDP.

A former Secretary to the Ekiti State Government, Biodun Oyebanji, the APC primary election in Ekiti State.