THE Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries, which commenced on Saturday, April 20, was declared inclusive by the Chairman of the electoral committee overseeing the exercise, Ahmed Usman Ododo.
In a statement late on Saturday, Ododo noted that the exercise would continue on Sunday, April 21, especially in Okitipupa, where violence by rival supporters within the party disrupted the process.
“Having received reports of the primary election from the 203 Wards in the 18 Local Governments of Ondo State, the Primary election Committee has decided that election will be conducted in all the 13 Wards of Okitipupa Local Government with total validated registered members of 9,515 because of validated reports that the exercise did not hold in the Local government due to late arrival of materials and personnel as a result of logistics challenges.
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“Election in Okitipupa Local Government shall be conducted at noon on Sunday 21st April 2024. The final collation of the results will be done thereafter,” Ododo stated.
The ICIR reported that rival supporters of two party aspirants stirred up violence on Saturday at Ward 1, Stella Maris College, Okitipupa.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the violence between two groups of supporters disrupted the voting process, leaving voters who had gathered at the ward scampering for safety even before the accreditation process began.
Eyewitnesses also told NAN that a party agent had arrived on the scene, snatched accreditation documents, and run away, leading to the unrest in the area.
Other irregularities that occurred during the process also led some of the aspirants to call for a cancellation of the exercise.
They alleged that the APC Electoral Committee, led by Kogi state governor Ododo, was not transparent and asked the party’s leadership to replace the committee chairman immediately.
The Ondo state governorship election is scheduled for November 2024.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.