APC governorship aspirant in Ondo urges leaders to resolve primary election crisis

One of the aspirants that contested the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Chief Jamiu Ekungba, has appealed to the leadership of the party to resolve the crisis that followed the exercise.

Three of the leading aspirants, Segun Abraham, Olusola Oke and Senator Ajayi Boroffice, who alleged massive irregularities, are calling for the cancellation of the primary election that produced Rotimi Akeredolu as the party’s candidate.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Ekungba, a banker and accountant, said rather than escalate the crisis, members and leaders of the APC in Ondo State should look for ways around the problem so that the party can win the November 26 governorship election.

He said: “There must be a roundtable conference by the leaders to look at the ways the issues in Ondo State can be resolved. Democracy in the state began to have a slippery ground since 1983 and later fell finally.

“So, I do not want the APC to fall into the same trap because all the rumples that are following the primary election need to be resolved internally. They are internal affairs, which must be resolved internally.”

He denied calling the people of the state “bastards and ingrates” for taking his money when he lost the APC primary election, saying: “I never gave any money whatsoever to any of the delegates. If I did not part with money, why will I complain?

“I do not have N300 million to share. Even if I had, both in all my interviews and at campaigns to the delegates, I made it very clear that I will not induce anybody with money to vote for me. Why will I bribe people to give me a job that will require so much energy to bring back to life an economy that is almost dead totally.”