Ahead of the primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), some leaders of the party in the state, have alleged that there were plans by some elements in the party to disrupt the shadow election slated for April 20.
The leaders, led by Adewale Ibraheem, also expressed apprehension that the primary scheduled to pick the APC candidate appears threatened and could be aborted by suspected thugs.
The leaders claimed that some thugs had been recruited and deployed in each local government area in the state to scuttle the primary.
Ibraheem specifically accused the foot soldiers of governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, of planning to disrupt the primary.
He alleged: “His support base is weak, and the strategists to his aspiration are of the opinion that the power of incumbency be used to waste the fortunes of the APC in Ondo State.”
But in his reaction, the state Director of Information, Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation, Kayode Fasua, lambasted the group for sponsoring falsehood against Aiyedatiwa, describing it an attempt to give the governor a bad name so as to hang him.
He admitted that the group held a meeting but explained: “The meeting under reference was an Akure meeting held by APC members in the locality to appraise the performance of the campaign efforts within the local government, thence far. Nothing more.”
He urged the “desperadoes within the APC to readdress themselves and give vent to party rules and regulations, by desisting from mudslinging. Party members bandying this cooked-up story are the enemies of the party.
“Yes, Aiyedatiwa is contesting the party’s next governorship ticket, but the enormous task before him does not give room for the conjecture of raising thugs or anything of the stuff. He is a busy man; one who closes work at 1am and resumes 8am.”
The APC has adopted direct primary to elect its candidate for the November election.
A total of 16 aspirants including the incumbent governor, Lucky, Aiyedatiwa, Wale Akinterinwa, Jimoh Ibrahim, Olusola Oke, and Isaac Kekemeke, have obtained the expression of interest and nomination forms, and they are to be screened soon.
The incumbent governor, who had wanted the procedural right of first refusal to be applied in his favour, will have to contend with 15 others for the APC ticket.
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