APC governorship primary held in Ondo state, Aiyedatiwa insists

Ondo State governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, on Thursday, maintained that the All Progressives Congress held a hitch-free governorship primary in the state.

“I went to my ward and I was counted and the election took place in my ward…election actually took place,” Aiyedatiwa told journalists on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Economic and Financial Inclusion programme at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja

He maintained that persons alleging that no primaries held in the state are only peddling hearsay as must prove, just as he disclosed that he had begun to reach out to those who contested with him on the need to go into the election with a united front.

Aiyedatiwa was declared the winner, amassing 48,569 votes, while his closest rivals, Mayowa Akinfolarin and Olusola Oke, garnered 15,343 and 14,865 votes, respectively.

Kogi State Governor Usman Ododo, who Chairs the Governorship Primary Election Committee, announced the results. Aiyedatiwa was declared the winner in 16 out of 18 Local Government Areas, except for Ilaje LGA, where he lost to third-placed Oke.

Despite the official results, the primary suffered allegations of irregularities and procedural failings ahead of the November governorship elections.

One of the aspirants, Mrs Folakemi Omogoroye, who called for an annulment, challenged the legitimacy of the primaries, citing a lack of election officials and voting materials as grounds for her assertion that no actual election took place.

There were also reports of violence in Ifedore LGA, which led to the cancellation of results there.

Reacting to the aftermath, Aiyedatiwa said those alleging irregularities must present proof.

“So if you’re complaining of other irregularities, I don’t know. Who alleges must prove.

“In a contest like that, some may be having grudges. The complaints we have from some of them are that the election was not free and fair, there were no elections in some places, and all of that.

“You can only be in one place at a time. I cannot speak of other wards. So, those who are complaining, it’s just hearsay. The election actually took place,” he maintained.

He called on all aggrieved aspirants to “work together to ensure we are victorious in the November election.”

In that vein, Aiyedatiwa said he is already talking to the aspirants he called “winners” and “family members.”

He said, “The election has come and gone. We are all winners, all the 16 aspirants; I’ll call them family members because it’s a family affair. We were just looking for a flagbearer among us and a flagbearer emerged. And the aspirants have to work together.

“We’re already talking. The good thing is that I have a relationship with every one of them. It’s not a case of not having a relationship; I can talk at will and when I call them on the phone, they pick one hand.

“So there’s no form of grandstanding; it’s not a politics of calumny. So, we relate very well.”

The governor also stressed the need for economic and financial inclusion of rural dwellers. He said the federal government must work with state governors and the private sector drivers to deploy requisite technology to bring rural dwellers into the nation’s financial cycle.