A group within the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ondo Vanguard for Good Governance, has raised the alarm over the alleged plots to rig the April 20 governorship primaries of the party in the state.
According to the group, the delegate congress that ought to have been held on Monday to identify party members that will participate in the direct mode of the primary was not held, and the validation exercise was not thoroughly done.
The chairman of the group, Tade Ojo, who disclosed this to newsmen in Akure, the state capital, emphasised that with the development, the grounds have been prepared for the alleged manipulation of the shadow primary.
Ojo, who described the purported ploy as undemocratic, reiterated that there were alleged moves to produce fake membership cards for some people who are non-members of the APC to participate in the primaries.
He said: According to the guidelines of the APC, the validation exercise of membership of the party members whose names are in the party register, as of 2021, should have been held about a week ago or thereabout, and ought to be preceded by the delegates congress of the party.
“It is worrisome that the delegate congress that ought to have been held on April 15 was not held in the 203 designated centres for the exercise. Members of the APC who obtained forms and offered themselves for the exercise were not allowed to participate because the delegate congress was never held.
“Gentlemen of the press, these two exercises ought to be carried out at the various designated election centres in each of the 18 local government areas and 203 wards, respectively, in Ondo State.
“Regrettably, the validation exercise that was said to have been done was only carried out in the hotel rooms of these agents of destabilisation, and the delegate congress of today was also not held at their various designated points.
“Today, we have come to tell the entire people of Ondo State, the national leadership of the APC, and all Nigerians that all the processes that ought to lead to a free, fair, and credible primary election in Ondo State have been violated by the party officials sent by the APC to Ondo State.
“Members of the public are, hereby, put on notice that APC is again threading the path of perversion and corruption of the electoral proces, and it will have itself to blame if the hawks at work are allowed to have their way.”
Reacting to the allegations, the spokesperson of the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers (LACO-FS), Kayode Fasua, maintained that the confirmation of membership in the party will not be done manually.
He said: “The pre-requisite for voting is the party membership card, which will be confirmed digitally. Thank God the attack is no longer on Aiyedatiwa by these lie manufacturers.
“Let them challenge the party leadership over their grievances, and I’m sure they will get satisfactory answers. The APC remains united, as political aspiration is in the party spirit.”