Suspected political thugs stormed the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State on Sunday night, forcing party members and officials to flee amid the announcement of results from Saturday’s House of Representatives primaries in the state.

The invasion occurred at the party’s secretariat in Akure, the state capital, while the election committee was preparing to declare winners of the exercise.

Witnesses described the scene chaotic as party loyalists, journalists and committee members scrambled to exit the premises.

According to party insiders, the chaos was triggered when a directive was allegedly issued to halt the proceedings, and the instruction reportedly came via a telephone call to a member of the primary committee.

The thugs were allegedly led by an aspirant loyal to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa who had been disqualified from contesting the primary.

The aspirant was among seven candidates earlier disqualified by the party from participating in the exercise.

“A disqualified aspirant mobilised some thugs to the venue, and the atmosphere became tense. People hurriedly lef because nobody wanted the situation to get out of hand.

“I was live on Facebook when the announcement started. They were about to call the federal constituency results when the aspirant came and said somebody was on the phone directing that the process should be stopped.

“We all thought it was the governor, but later realised it was coming from a top cabinet member in the state,” a party source who witnessed the incident alleged.

Prior to the chaos, the state chapter of the party had moved to address grievances arising from the disputed exercise.

In a statement issued by the party’s State Secretary, Alex Kalejaye, the party announced the constitution of a Primary Appeal Committee to entertain complaints from aggrieved aspirants.

“The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State wishes to inform the general public, and indeed House of Representatives aspirants, who are displeased with the primary process thus far, that the Primary Appeal Committee will be ready to entertain complaints today at the State Secretariat,” the statement read.

Earlier, some results had purportedly been declared, with Omowunmi Olatunji announced as the winner of the Akure South/Akure North Federal Constituency primary with 9,237 votes. Olumuyiwa Daramola secured the Okitipupa/Irele ticket after polling 6,547 votes, while the incumbent, second-term lawmaker representing the Ondo East/Ondo West Federal Constituency, Abiola Makinde, clinched victory with 10,847 votes.

However, results for six other federal constituencies which included include Akoko North-East/North-West, Akoko South-West/South-East, Owo/Ose, Idanre/Ifedore, Ilaje/Ese-Odo, and Odigbo/Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo federal constituencies, remain unannounced as of press time.

The whereabouts of some committee members have been unknown since Sunday night, particularly the secretary of the committee, preventing the announcement of the remaining results.