From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by former governor of Osun State and Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola has rejected the result of last Saturday’s governorship primary elections.
A statement made available to Journalists by the publicity secretary of The Osun Progressives (TOP), Abiodun Agboola, Monday, quoted the chairman of the group, Rasaq Salinsile, as describing the primary as a charade, ruse and sham.
He stated that the primary election was fraught with fraud and manipulation, alleging that its candidate, Moshood Adeoti, was not allowed to have access to the membership register by which the exercise took place.
“By this, he was denied knowledge of how many members the party had as at the day of the election which is contrary to morality and the law.
“We put on record the fact that many people were disenfranchised, as APC members who trooped to the election centres with their membership slips, could not find their names on the register.
“Contrary to the guidelines, accreditation did not take place in many election centres while result sheets were unavailable.
“The appointees of Governor Gboyega Oyetola were the appointed electoral officers and supervisors of the exercise.
“We note that there were overvoting in some areas while the much talked about the presence of Independent National Electoral Commission INEC was far-fetched.
“Many members who were not part of Governor Oyetola’s IleriOluwa group were chased away from the election centres by thugs and hoodlums hired by government agents.
“Prior to the Saturday’s high-level display of impunity called election, we have had to call on Governor Oyetola to resign from membership of the National Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (NCECPC) as it runs against morality and the law.
“That position was used by Governor Oyetola to get so many things manipulated in the process leading to conduct of the primary, including the furtive change of date of the exercise.
“We are therefore convinced that justice has not been served and therefore rejects the result and will be approaching the Appeal Committee to be set up by the National Secretariat,” the statement added.