Assembly Aspirants Protest Substitution Of Names In Ogun APC Primaries

Assembly Aspirants Protest Substitution Of Names In Ogun APC Primaries

Twenty six aspirants whose names initially appeared as candidates of All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Ogun state House of Assembly (OGHA) on Monday protested alleged substitution of their names by the national leadership of the party.

Segun Idowu an aspirant for Remo North state constituency, the protesters stormed the state secretariat of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) at Oke – Ilewo, Abeokuta who led  the protest to where they addressed a press conference lamented their plight.

The APC Assembly aspirants appealed to the party’s National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to respect the mandates given to them by party members during the primaries conducted in the state.

They passionately asked Oshiomhole to submit their names to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as party’s candidates who emerged at the APC legislative primaries held in the state for the 2019 elections.

The APC protesting aspirants expressed concern over the alleged failure of the national leadership to give them Candidate Form (CF001) of INEC.

Speaking at the press conference which was attended by all the 26 candidates, Idowu said the deadline for submission of names and particulars of candidates for the 2019 election to INEC lapsed on Friday.

He alleged that none of the candidates was contacted by the national leadership before the deadline.

Idowu explained that they were alarmed when Oshiomhole announced on television last Friday that the party had submitted names of candidates to the electoral body with the exclusion of their names.

He insisted that the primaries were conducted on October 7 by the Col. Ali Chiroma-led committee sent by the APC national leadership, pointed out that the 26 affected candidates were announced as winners.

“With the primary election behind us, we waited for the national leadership of the APC to do the needful by giving us the Party Candidate Form (CF001) of the INEC. However, the deadline for the submission of names and particulars of candidates for the election to INEC lapsed on Friday, November 2 without any of us who won the primaries given the form. The situation remains the same as at today.

“We have intensified our enquiries at the state secretariat of the APC. The only explanation we have received from the state chairman of the party, Chief Derin Adebiyi, is that on Saturday, November 3, 2018, 24 hours after the deadline for the submission of names of candidates, he received a call from the National Director of Organization of the APC, requesting for names of candidates for INEC.

“This is a curious request because the National Secretariat constituted the panel that conducted the primary election and declared the results of the exercise.

“The party is therefore in possession of the list of winners of the election in all 26 state constituencies and we expect CF001 forms to be issued to the winners of the direct primary elections without further ado.”

Idowu pledged the loyalty and support of the candidates to the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He added, “We shall do all at our disposal to ensure he (Buhari) records unprecedented votes in Ogun State in the 2019 elections.

“We also acknowledge the leadership of Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the governor of Ogun State. He has raised the bar of governance in Ogun State and we are confident that history shall record his achievement in gold.”