… Rejects ‘kangaroo’ exercise, demands fresh collation

… Condemns violent attacks on Senator, supporters

A group within the All Progressives Congress (APC) has petitioned the party’s national leadership, condemning the violent disruption of the House of Representatives primaries of the party in Ondo State as well as the attacks that rocked the senate primaries of the party.

The group, under the aegis of Ondo State APC Concern, which demanded that the exercise be declared invalid, described the process as a “kangaroo” exercise that violated established electoral guidelines.

In the petition addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the group’s head, Kola Adesina, emphasized that the development was a subversion of internal democratic procedures.

Crisis erupted on Sunday around 7:00 pm on Sunday when the National Assembly Election Committee, led by Hon. Iboroma Harry Dabibi, convened at the Ondo State APC Secretariat in Akure to resume the announcement of results.

According to the group, a disqualified aspirant from the Idanre/Ifedore federal constituency arrived at the venue with political thugs, who chased out committee members, journalists, and party officials despite the presence of security personnel.

In the petition, primaries were conducted across nine federal constituencies in the state on Saturday, with results declared for only three constituencies of Akure South/Akure North, Okitipupa/Irele, and Ondo East/Ondo West.

The group alleged that the purported results for the three constituencies did not reflect the actual winners and alleged that there were discrepancies with the results for the remaining six constituencies.

Also, the group condemned the violence and sporadic gunshots that rocked the senate primaries of the party, particularly in Ondo Central Senatorial District describing the development as unpardonable.

“This development is unacceptable and fatal to the credibility of the entire process. The invasion of the collation venue by thugs and the truncation of the process by external interference undermine the will of APC members who participated in the primaries,” the group stated.

The group further alleged that the disruption followed a phone call made to the state chairman, during which a caller purporting to be a serving state commissioner instructed that the announcement be halted until disputes in Owo/Ose and Idanre/Ifedore were resolved.

Citing threats to their lives, the committee members were said to have subsequently suspended the exercise and vacated the premises.

The group maintained that the process failed to adhere to procedures mandated by the APC National Secretariat for the collation and announcement of National Assembly primary results.

According to the petition, the required sequence of ward collation, local government area collation, designated constituency collation centers, and final submission of results to the national headquarters was not completed for the outstanding constituencies before the exercise was halted.

Meanwhile, the group demanded that the disrupted process be rejected as invalid and unreflective of the will of party members, adding that the National Assembly Election Committee should be directed to reconvene under adequate security to complete collation and announcement in line with party guidelines.

The group also urged that the party should investigate the role of partisan interference and the deployment of thugs to truncate a democratic process.

The group further warned that allowing the current process to stand would damage the party’s credibility in Ondo State ahead of the 2027 elections, stressing that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the state’s chief security officer, must be called to order over the anomalies that occurred under his watch.