Senator Dayo Adeyeye and Kayode Ojo have vowed to challenge the APC governorship primaries in Ekiti state that produced Mr Biodun Oyebanji as winner.
Adeyeye, a former Minister of Works, alleged on Friday that the results of the primary had been concocted before the exercise, adding that he was still consulting with his people on the next line.
“All the people who conducted the election were members of Oyebanji’s campaign team. We have the list. That was the basis of our petition.
“On Wednesday, we complained to Governor (Abubakar) Badaru (of Jigawa State) that there was no way all the electoral officers could be members of Oyebanji’s campaign team. He said each of the seven of us should bring 20 names to make 140 whereas Oyebanji’s team had 531 names and he did not use any of the names. He just stuck to the list that Oyebanji’s team presented.
“We were supposed to meet Governor Badaru by 9am and he cancelled the meeting – what a display of arrogance? Don’t we have the right to complain as contestants? All those who conducted the purported election and took results to the collation centre were all Oyebanji’s people. Which kind of primary was that?
“The figures were written and concocted. In some of the places, they tore the result sheet and rewrote it that evening. Whatever was purportedly done anywhere was not true. They had already written the results.
“One of the sources in the government told me on Wednesday that they would put me in the fourth position. They wrote the result. How could Oyebanji have scored over 101,000 votes? In Ekiti State, votes have never been more than 300,000 for all parties combined, so where did they get that over 101,000 for one aspirant? Are they not deceiving themselves?”
The other aspirant, Ojo, on Friday asked the national leadership of the APC and the Presidency to intervene and conduct “a legitimate primary” to replace the exercise he described as a fraud.
“I can confirm to you that the APC has no legal and credible candidate in Ekiti. From the results, you can attest to the fact that those figures were fake and concocted by the elections committees to suit their purpose.
“The Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru and chairman of the APC Primary Committee for Ekiti State came to this state to validate fraud and not for the conduct of any credible primary. We (seven aggrieved aspirants) have resolved to stand against this
“We are seeking every peaceful avenue to ensure that we have a process that would produce a credible candidate in Ekiti. It will be a disaster for the APC to approach this election in this disgraceful manner.”
However, Oyebanji, who was returned as winner of the primary by the Badaru-led committee, sought support of the aggrieved aspirants to ensure the party won the June 18 governorship election.
