Victor EzejaOndo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has expressed his appreciation to President Bola Tinubu and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for allowing an enabling environment that led to a peaceful conduct of the party’ gubernatorial primary in the state.
He expressed his appreciation in his acceptance speech on Monday morning, after emerging as the candidate of the APC for Ondo State 2024 governorship election.
Aiyedatiwa, who contested the APC governorship ticket with 15 other aspirants, was declared winner of the primary election by Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, on Monday morning.
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According to Governor Ododo, who served as Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee for Ondo State, Aiyedatiwa scored 48,569 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Mayowa Akinfolarin, who polled 15,343 out of 95,178 valid votes cast in the exercise held across the 17 local government areas of the state.
Olusola Oke garnered 14,453 votes; Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, 9,457 and Wale Akinterinwa, 1,952.
The exercise was held between Saturday and Sunday.
Governor Aiyedatiwa hailed the APC NWC for ensuring that the “best candidate emerged” as the party’s flag bearer in the 11 November 2024 governorship election.
Other Aspirants Oppose Outcome, Demand Fresh Primary
This comes as some of the aspirants have criticized the conduct of the primary election alleging irregularities such as violence and non-arrival of materials and officials in some wards.
Four candidates – Oke, Akinterinwa, Jimi Odimayo and Folakemi Omogoroye – rejected the outcome of the primary and demanded that it should be cancelled.
Omogoroye, who is the only woman aspirant, threatened to institute legal action if the primary was not cancelled.
According to reports, a group of protesters stormed the APC secretariat in Akure the state capital with placards, demanding cancellation of the election results and that a fresh primary be conducted. They claimed there was no election in Ondo.
Ododo while declaring Aiyedatiwa winner, called on other aspirants to support the candidate and work for the success of the party in the upcoming poll. He urged them not to abandon the party.
On his part, Governor Aiyedatiwa, who commended other contestants for their sportsmanship, stressed the need for unity of purpose to ensure that the party wins in the November election.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
