Women and youth leaders in the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday staged a peaceful protest over the alleged imposition of candidates for the National Assembly.
The protesters were carrying placards with inscriptions such as: “Let our vote count”, “We say no to imposition”, “We say no to corner corner”, “APC NWC, let our vote count”, among others.
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The protesters stated that the purported list of candidates in circulation does not reflect the results of the state’s national assembly primaries held in May.
The protest halted vehicular movement on the Ilesha-Akure-Benin expressway.
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The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Seun Osamaye, while addressing reporters during the protest, said the women were dissatisfied with what she described as a list that did not reflect the outcome of the party’s primaries.
Mrs Osamaye said the women voted in all 203 wards across the state and expected the published list of candidates to reflect the mandate freely given by party members.
“We know those we voted for and those who won at the polls. The list circulating online does not reflect our members’ mandate. We are demanding fairness, transparency and justice. Let the people’s votes count,” she said.
Mrs Osamaye appealed to the party’s national leadership to be transparent and ensure that the authentic results of the primaries were upheld.
Also speaking, one of the protesters, Bright Ojo, described the protest as a peaceful effort to defend the integrity of the party’s internal democratic process.
Mr Bright urged the APC leadership to respect the outcome of the direct primaries, saying party members wanted the candidates they voted for on the list.
Similarly, the APC Women Leader in the state, Oluwayemisi Iji-Ayeola, alleged that the names released did not reflect the outcome of the primaries conducted across the state.
“We are crying against injustice. We had what we considered a credible election and expected the results to be announced accordingly. Instead, names of people we did not vote for were announced,” she said.
READ ALSO: APC Disowns Purported List of Successful Candidates, Labels It Fake
Ms Iji-Ayeola said the party leadership in the state had made several representations to the national secretariat, urging it to release what she described as the genuine election results.
“We have copies of the results from the ward, local government and state levels. We are appealing to the national leadership of the party to release the authentic results in the interest of justice and fairness,” she said.
(NAN)
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