Fresh unrest has erupted within the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as aggrieved members staged a protest in Akure on Tuesday, rejecting the party’s revised list of senatorial and House of Representatives candidates.
The demonstrators, made up of party loyalists, marched through major roads in the state capital carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Ondo State Is on Fire,” “Ondo State Says No to Abuja Result,” “No to Corner-Corner Appeal,” “We No Go Gree,” and “Let Our Votes Count.”
The protesters insisted that the revised list did not reflect the outcome of the direct primary elections conducted across the state’s 203 wards, urging the party’s leadership to release what they described as the authentic results.
Speaking during the demonstration, the Ondo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Seun Osamaye, dismissed the list in circulation as fake, arguing that it was inconsistent with the mandate freely given by party members during the primaries.
According to her, APC members across the state were fully aware of the aspirants who emerged victorious during the direct primary election, making the revised list difficult to accept.
“We, the women of Ondo State who are members of the APC, have come out to express our displeasure with the fake list being circulated. We consider it fake because it does not reflect the mandate of the people,” she said.
Osamaye appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the matter, expressing confidence that the president would uphold fairness, justice and democratic values in resolving the dispute.
Also addressing the protesters, APC youth leader Bright Ojo described the revised candidate list as a direct assault on the democratic wishes of party members in Ondo State.
“What you are seeing is a protest against a democratic coup in Ondo State. The people voted en masse during the direct primary, and the results reflected the will and mandate of the people from the field,” Ojo stated.
He further alleged that some names on the revised list belonged to aspirants who did not win the primary elections, raising questions over the circumstances that led to the alterations.
The protest followed reports that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) approved significant changes to the party’s list of candidates after considering appeals arising from the primary elections.
Under the revised list, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire (SAN) was returned as the APC’s senatorial candidate for Ondo Central, while Senator Olajide Ipinsagba secured the ticket for Ondo North.
Former APC National Vice Chairman (South-West), Hon. Isaacs Kekemeke, emerged as the party’s candidate for Ondo South Senatorial District.
For the House of Representatives, Donald Ojogo, Festus Akingbaso, Oluwatimehin Adelegbe, Okunjimi Odimayo, Michael Ajilo and Festus Adefiranye were listed as the party’s candidates for the affected federal constituencies.
Although party stakeholders had anticipated that the release of the revised candidates’ list would put an end to the uncertainty surrounding the primary elections, Tuesday’s protest indicates that the controversy remains unresolved, with aggrieved members continuing to challenge the legitimacy of the exercise.
