Osun 2022: Oyetola wins APC primary with unreliable figures

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State on Saturday emerged winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) direct primary election with unreliable and unverifiable figures to pick the party governorship ticket for the July 2022 election. Figures emerging from the APC primary election, from Anambra State to Osun and others, have represented more imaginary than real, perhaps, conjectured in view of the result of the proper election.

In Anambra APC governorship direct primary election, the emergent candidate who was allocated over 200,000 votes from a primary election participated by APC members alone, could not get up to 60,000 votes in the governorship election proper.

Attempts of the APC candidate to claim victory in the Anambra governorship election, juxtaposing the figures of the APC primary election with the INEC supervised governorship election, however, failed when he was knocked out over a legal suit of not being the authentic candidate of the APC for the governorship election in Anambra State.

Chairman of the APC primary election committee in Osun State, Governor Abdulrasak Abdulrahman of Kwara State, announcing the result of the party’s primary election on Saturday, declared Governor Oyetola winner with 222,169 votes. Abdulrahman disclosed that the former Secretary to the Osun State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, had 12,921 votes to place second and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Lasun Yusuf, was third with 460 votes.

Governor Abdulrahmanalso declared that the total registered voters for the direct primary is 408,697; accredited voters for the election was 247, 207; and total votes cast and valid votes were 235,550.

The governor, as in other states where direct primary was adopted, could not clarify whether  the figure of registered voters was derived from party membership registration or APC had clean voters register of its own.

However, the presiding caiman declared: “I, Abdulrasak Abdulrahman, Chairman of Osun Direct Primary committee, hereby certify that Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola, having secured the highest number of votes in the election, is hereby declared winner.”

The State APC Chairman, Prince Gboyega Famodun, commended the committee for a thorough work done in conducting the direct primary election in Osun State.

Meanwhile, the APC faction led by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, had before the commencement of the direct primary election raised alarm that the process had already been compromised and manipulated in the interest of the governor even before party members came out for the exercise.