Ekiti 2022: APC Has No Candidate Yet, Says Aggrieved Aspirant, All progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Kayode Ojo has accused the Jigawa State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru of coming to the state to validate “fraud” and not for the conduct of any credible primary, saying the party has no candidate yet for the June 18, 2022 poll.
Ojo posited that what the Badaru-led APC Primary committee did with the alleged shoddy conduct of the governorship primary in Ekiti, was a complete disgrace to APC, regretting that figures were concocted for aspirants even when no election was held.
The aggrieved aspirant was one of the seven contestants that boycotted the primary held in Ekiti, on Thursday, on account of alleged widespread fraud and manipulations.
Addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti on Friday, Ojo, said APC had allegedly made a mockery of democracy by the incidents that dogged the conduct of the internal election.
He said, “What you witnessed in Ekiti on Thursday and the day preceding the election showed the election had been compromised even before it was conducted. With this, it was clear that Governor Badaru was not in Ekiti for a credible poll, but to see to the anointing one of the aspirants.
“But as of now, I can confirm to you that the APC has no legal and credible candidate in Ekiti. From the results, you could attest to the fact that those figures were fake, concocted by the committee to suit their purpose.
Ekiti 2022: APC Has No Candidate Yet, Says Aggrieved Aspirant
“We asked the committee about the personalities that will be used as returning officers on Wednesday, the day preceding the primary, they didn’t give us any useful answer.
“You could all see that majority of the people used as returning officers were members of the APC state executives, appointees of government and elected party members, who are lackeys of Governor Kayode Fayemi and were also part of the Biodun Oyebanji campaign Council.”
“They asked us to nominate 20 persons to be used as returning officers, up to now, we didn’t see where our lists were included, the original list was not updated. Those we gave to them were not posted to where they would monitor elections.
“What they did in Ekiti was inappropriate, unethical and unacceptable. The arrangements we had were disgraceful. All the numbers allocated to aspirants were fake. Nobody had won any election here in Ekiti. We all reject this craziness.
“It is irresponsible for Governor Badaru and his team to come here and disgrace our party. It is a shame for any governor to behave this way.
We have resolved to stand against this injustice. We are seeking every peaceful avenue to ensure that we have a process that would produce a credible candidate in Ekiti. It will be a disaster to APC to approach this election in this disgraceful manner.”
The aggrieved aspirant advised the National leadership of the party and the Presidency to intervene in the primary, he described nullity and illegality, adding, ” What they did in Ekiti was evil, they are even worse than evil.
“Presidency must intervene in this matter before APC crumbles in Ekiti. It was sad that they even voided votes in a direct primary where people were counted to tell you the level of their fraud.”