• Urges co-aspirants to work together with him, hold no grudges
• Lauds Tinubu, Ganduje, APC members on hitch-free process
• Appeal committee receives three petitions over alleged irregularities
• Assures aggrieved aspirants of transparency, fairness
Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has emerged as the winner of the governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Aiyedatiwa, who was declared the winner of the primaries almost 48 hours after the exercise began by Kogi State Governor, who doubled as the Chairman of the Primary Election Committee, Usman Ododo, emerged with 48,569 votes.
He defeated 15 other aspirants to clinch the ticket of the party ahead of the November 16, 2024 governorship election in the state. Aiyedatiwa’s closest contender, Mayowa Akinfolarin, secured the second position with 15,343 votes; Olusola Oke came third with 14,915 while Jimoh Ibrahim scored 9,456 in the fourth position.
However, Aiyedatiwa lost his Ilaje Local Council to Oke, who also hailed from the council, by a margin of 26 votes. The governor did not also win in Ifedore Council, as the party’s returning officer, Oliver Okpala, told the seven-man committee that sporadic gunshots prevented the shadow election from taking place.
Okpala said that due to the violence, he recorded zero votes for all the aspirants in the local council.
Meanwhile, the governor has urged the 15 aspirants who contested with him to put the past behind them in the interest of the party and the state.He said that their resolve to participate had further strengthened the party.
In his acceptance speech, the governor assured the aspirants that the time for them to work and win together had come and solicited their support to move the state forward.
MEANWHILE, the appeal committee set up by the APC for the just concluded governorship primary in the state, yesterday, disclosed that three petitions had been received from aggrieved aspirants who participated in the election.
The five-man committee, led by the immediate past governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar, while confirming the receipt of the petitions in Akure, Ondo State capital, said that complaints of the three aspirants bothered on alleged irregularities during the exercise.
Abubakar who said that the petitions were received from Olugbenga Oedema, Jimi Odimayo and Adewale Akinterinwa, added that the grievances of the aspirants would be handled with fairness and in a transparent manner.
