Ondo Guber: APC Primary Threatened As Aiyedatiwa’s Supporters Allegedly Plan Onslaught
The April 20, 2024 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Ondo State may be violent as some leaders of the party, lead by Adewale Ibraheem, have expressed concern that the primary may be aborted….CONTINUE READING
The concerned APC leaders revealed that there were credible indications that the govrrnorship primary would be threatened and eventually aborted.
According to Ibraheem and other leaders, plans have been hatched by to recruit and unleash 50 thugs in each of the 18 local government areas of the state to scuttle the party’s governorship primary.
They alleged that a group of supporters of the governor, the Red Beret, has perfected plans to disrupt the APC primary election.
Adewale Ibraheem said: “It has come to our notice through a credible source in the camp of Aiyedatiwa’s supporters that plans have been perfected by Aiyedatiwa’s political foot soldiers to scuttle the APC primary, baring any last minute counter moves.
“A meeting was held in Akure, and it was coordinated by a senior cabinet member. At the meeting, it was approved that anywhere in all the 18 local.government areas of the state where the incumbent is unpopular and may lose election, the election in such place must be disrupted and the election must never be allowed to stand.
“Fund shall be provided to recruit 50 thugs in each of the 18 local governments, to foment trouble on 20th of April 2024, and discredit the APC primary.
“It is evident that Aiyedatiwa is losing out and he wants to drag everybody down, including the APC in Ondo State.
“His support base is weak, and the strategists to his aspiration are of the opinion that the power of incumbency be used to waste the fortunes of the APC in Ondo State.”
The Red Beret is a group which some members of APC had from inception described as an insignia of a confrontational movement within the party.
The Red Beret had declared and adopted Governor Aiyedatiwa as their candidate for APC.
But Kayode Fasua, State Director of Information, Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organization(LACO-FSIC) has dismissed the allegation, saying “Party members bandying this cooked-up story are the enemies of the party. The death of former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) in December last year unsettled everyone.
“So, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa who was constitutionally bestowed with the right of continuity from where Akeredolu stopped, met a lot of challenges to be met, especially those brought about by the long spell of the absence of a substantive Governor.
“Yes, Aiyedatiwa is contesting the party’s next governorship ticket, but the enormous task before him does not give room for the conjecture of raising thugs or anything of the stuff. He is a busy man; one who closes work at 1:am and resumes 8:am.
“The meeting under reference was an Akure meeting held by APC members in the locality, to appraise the performance of the campaign efforts within the local government, thence far. Nothing more.
“Therefore, desperadoes within the APC should readdress themselves and give vent to party rules and regulations, by stopping mudslinging Mr. Governor in the belief that he is a simple man, and can’t do anything.”
Meanwhile, the national leadership of APC has resolved to conduct direct primary to elect the standard bearer of the party in the November gubernatorial election in Ondo State.
No fewer than 17 aspirants on the platform of the party, including Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, have obtained and expectedly submitted the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms.
Among the prominent aspirants are Wale Akinterinwa, Olusola Oke, Jimoh Ibrahim, Isaac Kekemeike, and Duran Iyantan.
If the fear of the APC leaders is anything to go by, then the hope of the aspirants may be dashed on April 20, 2024 except the plot is aborted by the appropriate security agencies.
