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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Kolapo Kola-Daisi, son of a frontline industrialist and Basorun of Ibadan, Chief Kola Daisi, has insisted that he is the winner of the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State that he remains the winner of the primary election conducted by the party for Oyo South senatorial district.
He made the disclosure aftermath of a rerun primary that was conducted in the district.
When the primary was conducted on Sunday May 29, Kola-Daisi, a son-in-law to ex-governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, had polled a total of 212 votes to defeat other aspirants for the senatori ticket. But he was not officially declared winner of the contest based on alleged over-voting recorded at the end of the exercise. The number of valid and invalid votes were said to have been more than accredited voters, which reportedly led to the cancellation of the exercise
The re-run primary that was conducted on Tuesday May 31, was won by another contestant, Chief Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, a former Secretary to the State Government, who scored 185 votes, while Kolapo Kola-Dajsi(KKD), came second with 145 votes. The results were also rejected based on over-voting.
Kola-Daisi, in his response to the delegates and other stakeholder on the re-run primary, made available to journalists in Ibadan on Thursday, said: “I thank you all for your support on this novel journey, culminating in the recently concluded Oyo South Senatorial Primaries of May 29, 2022. At this primary election, I was declared the winner, having scored the majority vote of 212 votes, while the closest other contender got 107 votes; even though irregularities were noted.
“The election was however arbitrarily cancelled and within 24 hours, a rerun was scheduled to hold on the 31st of May, 2022. While irregularities were noted at the election of May 29th, any review of the result of that election can only be done through the appropriate electoral appeal process. This appeal process would review any issue raised, invite interested parties to make representations and make decisions based on facts, the constitution of our party and also in accordance with relevant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Furthermore, the appeal process requires obtaining necessary approvals within the party hierarchy to carry out its recommendations. How all of these can happen without inviting aspirants and in less than 24 hours does not suggest fairness. The party or its election committees should not unilaterally cancel an election without following due process. We therefore distance ourselves from the sham of the primary election purportedly held on the 31st of May, 2022, that was tagged a re-run, and we did not participate in it.
“As far as we are concerned, we have been duly elected as the candidate of the APC for the Oyo South senatorial district, having scored the majority votes and should be allowed to prepare for and contest for the general election scheduled for February 2023.”
The 43-year-old banker stated further: “The events of the last few days have shown why so many youths are left disenfranchised and apathetic towards politics. The lack of internal democracy in political parties discourages willing participants. A fairer system will benefit our party significantly by bringing to the table different ideas as well as different perspectives to finding solutions to issues of today.
“Still, I encourage all the youths who have an interest in politics not to lose faith. We need to get involved, our movement “Je Ka Da SI”, typified by the amount of love and acceptance we received from all corners of the state, should be enough motivation to further fuel your desire to serve.”
