PRESS STATEMENT
APC GOVERNORSHIP PRIMARY: A COMPLETE CHARADE, SHOW OF SHAME, AND FLAGRANT DISREGARD FOR DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES
The people of Ondo State observed with great consternation the Governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State which was nothing short of an exercise of violence and electoral robbery that consequently produced the unpopular yet people-distanced flag-bearer of the party ahead of the November gubernatorial poll.
We are alarmed by the outburst that have since followed the exercise; especially from other aspirants who equally paid the exorbitant nomination fee of N50,000,000 to the party in order to contest in the primary, only to end up being shortchanged.
The media is awash with baffling video recordings of the said primary across the two hundred and three (203) wards, and people across the state and even members of the party are otherwise shocked feeling disconnected with All Progressive Congress.
It is now evident that the APC, with the consistent disregard to its own internal democracy, lacks the requisite to produce the helmsman of governance for our dear state. The party is not prepared to play any genuine role in the task of strengthening our democratic institutions; which is the grundnorm for any developed society.
The people in the APC have not only brought disrepute on Ondo State, they have also become a formidable threat to our collective peace in the state. We therefore condemn in totality, the mobilization of thugs and weapons seen everywhere during the so-called primary exercise yesterday.
It is instructive that the process of retrieving those weapons should commence immediately by relevant Security Agencies, to avoid criminal attacks on unsuspecting members of the public. We implore that investigations and manhunt be immediately launched by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to fish out these elements behind the sponsorship of the violence which characterized the fraudulent exercise by the anti-people’s party.
The ruling APC should however be reminded that their recalcitrance to democracy should remain in their party as any effort to replicate the same electoral robbery in the Governorship election will be resisted by the people of Ondo State as they are now tired of being led by a failed party.
The NNPP will continue to stand out as a responsible political party; as we are prepared to display ideal democratic practices in our forthcoming primary that will produce the best alternative to rebuild the damages and destruction the APC has caused in Ondo State.
Comr. Femi Olaleye
Acting State Publicity Secretary, NNPP, Ondo State
21st April 2024
