Election rips Ekiti IPAC apart

Crisis looms in the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Ekiti State chapter, as some stakeholders have rejected the re-election of Ifeoluwa Iyaniwura as chairman of the body.

At the election conducted at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Ado Ekiti yesterday, Iyaniwura garnered eight votes to defeat the state chairman of Action Alliance (AA), Mr. Lanre Anifowose, who polled six.

Chairman of IPAC Electoral Panel from Abuja, Mr. Obe Opunkun, declared Iyaniwura winner of the election supervised by INEC.

The panel had disqualified Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Action Democratic Party (ADP) and Labour Party (LP) from participating in the election due to controversy surrounding the nomination of delegates to vote in the poll.

Anifowose, who rejected the outcome of the election, accused the supervising officials of conniving with the incumbent chairman to disenfranchise his followers.

He said: “I reject this election on two grounds; one, those calling themselves party chairmen today and voted had never participated in IPAC activities; two, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti is factionalised and nobody expects the party to participate. But the electoral umpire connived with some few to pervert justice. The whole process was not transparent.

“Delegates of three political parties, who are my supporters, were rejected, to puncture my camp without reason, despite that their chairmen confirmed their authenticity. So, I am going back to the drawing board. IPAC is not a one-man show. They have done their worse today, but I am rejecting the results of the election.”

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ekiti State, Dr. Rahman Tella, advised the new officers to be supportive to INEC for the conduct of good elections.

Tella, who was represented by INEC Executive Secretary, Mr. Akinropo Ojewande, added: “We are ready to achieve a level playing ground for all parties in the conduct of elections. The commission is ready to listen to your suggestions and observations until we get to a level when the citizens are allowed to choose their leaders freely without hindrance.”

Also pronounced winners were: Chief Abiola Odeoba of Accord Party (Deputy Chairman), Rufus Alabi of All Progressives Grand Alliance (Secretary-General), Lanre Omotayo of African Action Congress (Organising Secretary) and Raphael Adeyanju of the Peoples Democratic Party (Public Relations Officer),

Others included Tunde Agbabiaka of the Zenith Labour Party (Legal Adviser) and Ade Ajayi of the All Progressives Congress (Treasurer).