Ondo APC Primary: Aspirant protests Akeredolu’s victory as Oke gives condition for support

One of the aspirants who contested in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election in Ondo State, Nathaniel Adojutelegan, has challenged the victory of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu as the party’s flag bearer for the October election.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr Adojutelegan appeared before the nine-member Chris Ibe-led Appeal Committee at the party’s National Secretariat, Abuja, on Friday.

In his two-page petition dated July 22, he challenged the outcome of the exercise that led to Mr Akeredolu’s victory.

According to him, the primary election fell short of the party’s constitution, guidelines, rules and regulations of the APC and electoral laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Also, another aspirant, Olusola Oke, said he was giving Mr Akeredolu seven days to conclude all reconciliation efforts with a view to uniting all aggrieved members of the party.

Mr Oke, who came second in the election, said the exercise was predetermined and organised to favour the governor.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting with members of his campaign organisation, on Friday, he noted that “it is important that the reconciliation should be comprehensive and involve all the strata of our party. That is the only reconciliation that will instil confidence in our people.

“We acknowledge that our followership accounts for more than 20 per cent of membership in Ondo State. We believe in APC. We are interested in the preservation of the governance of the APC subject to modification, adjustment, redirection and refocusing that will be contained in our charter of demand which will be presented to the governor.

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“Unless it is unavoidable, our members will not for now do anything that will be injurious to the overall interest of our party in the state.

“Whatever negotiations should be done timely, we are expecting that within the next seven days all reconciliation efforts, all terms and conditions would have been agreed upon.”

Mr Akeredolu will challenge about 13 candidates of other parties in the October 10 election. His main challenger is, however, expected to be Eyitayo Jegede of the PDP, the man who was runner up to Mr Akeredolu in the 2016 governorship election.