Ekiti guber aspirants risk disqualification over disrupted primary – APC

…Crisis rocks party as protesters sack State Exco, appoint caretaker committee
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned that some of its governorship aspirants in Ekiti State may be disqualified from the race if found guilty of disrupting the Saturday’s primary election that could have produced the party’s flag bearer in the state.

The party also disclosed that some of the printed ballot papers were in police custody in the state explaining that the exercise will not be disqualified but continued from where it was disrupted last Saturday.

More than any other party, the APC has 33 aspirants vying for the governorship ticket in Ekiti State.

Speaking to newsmen after the Chairman of the election committee and Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura submitted his report and findings during the disrupted exercise to the national secretariat of the party in Abuja on Monday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said:

“We just received report from the chairman of the committee that we sent to Ekiti to conduct the governorship primary, the Governor of Nasarawa state, Tanko Al-Makura.

He gave us a full report orally and submitted a written report of what transpired in Ekiti. They also made specific recommendations which gave the National Working Committee (NWC) a couple of options on how to proceed”.

The party spokesman said that the NWC is meeting Monday night to consider the report and tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, take a suitable decision.

He said, “We will be able to make our decision clear on how to proceed. But what I can assure you is that the individuals that took part in disrupting the exercise in Ekiti had been fully identified and we know the people that they represented at the event.

If we find them to be culpable accordingly, the principal they represent will be disqualified from the exercise and the individuals that participated in disrupting the exercise will be fully prosecuted.

That is what I can tell you at the moment. But tonight (Monday), we will meet to consider the report and we will make our decision known and send the team back to Ekiti as part of the way forward.

“If we consider the report and find anything that may have contributed to the disruption of the process of course, we will take appropriate decision. At the moment, we don’t have anything to suggest that it was part of what disrupted the exercise”.

When asked if the committee will be changed for a newly appointed team, Bolaji said it is unlikely to happen.

“It is unlikely to happen. Don’t forget that we have only one week to submit a candidate’s name to INEC. So, we don’t have sufficient time to begin to set up a new committee.

In essence, there is nothing available to us to suggest that the current committee is incapable of carrying out the assignment. So, there will be no reason to change it”.

On how many aspirants will be disqualified, the spokesman said he cannot say for now, adding that, “I have with me a full list of the individuals that disrupted the exercise and their photographs and we are going to review this later tonight when we meet. After our meeting, if I am cleared to release their names, I will”.

He said that the five local government already conducted are intact and with the police and no one tempering with them.

He agreed that the report of the Saturday congress received so far indicates that there are disruptions across the country, saying that: “In the conduct of the overall exercises, we have situations in a number of places.

But we cannot take decision in them until the committee’s that were sent to conduct those exercise report back officially about what transpired and the report of the appeals committee that started sitting today (Monday). It is one when we receive these reports that we will be able to know how to progress.

“We have not received any report from any state until the committees we sent to the states come back with reports. That is when we will be able to react on individual cases.

The statement we issued is just a general over view of what has been coming in. But in order to be able to deal with each case, we will have to wait for the committees that was sent to each state”.

Meanwhile, the Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State was on Monday in turmoil as those sympathetic to the cause of former governor and Minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Fayemi, allegedly besieged the party’s office to register their disapproval over the conduct of the members of the State Working Committee.

The protesters, who brandished placards of various inscriptions, also passed vote of no confidence on the State Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe and Publicity Secretary, Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun, for allegedly supporting one of the aspirants in the race.

The protesters under the auspices of Concerned APC stakeholders, comprising mostly delegates and party leaders from the local government and ward levels, accused Awe of working in cahoots with Governor Ayo Fayose to destabilise the party ahead of July 14 governorship election and alleged that he had been offered N75million to carry out the sinister job.

Relying on Article 21 (7) of the party’s constitution, they disbanded the State Working Committee (SWC) and set up a Caretaker Committee, headed by APC Chairman in Ise/Orun Council, Mr. Michael Eegunjobi, locking the premises of the party secretariat with fetish objects.

The embattled party chairman, Awe, narrowly escaped being lynched by irate party members and was said to have been sneaked out of the secretariat by mobile policemen while police vans have been stationed at the Secretariat locked up.

The Coordinator of the group, Barrister Adeoye Aribasoye, said that they are concerned APC members in Ekiti who had it on good authority that the peaceful election held on Saturday would have been successful, but for alleged connivance between Awe and Governor Fayose.

“We are hereby passing vote of no confidence in Awe and SWC members for taking sides. It was Awe and Olatunbosun that allowed those thugs to enter and disrupt the poll.

The same Jide Awe now going around to say the election should be cancelled. He even met with Governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura and APC National Vice Chairman, Pius Akinyelure on Sunday to ask for consensus in favour of Segun Oni”, he said.

According to him, “it is against the tenets of democracy and APC statute for SWC to be showing open bias. As a result of this, we held a congress on Monday (Yesterday), where it was agreed that a caretaker committee be set up;

led by Hon Kayode Eegunjobi as Chairman and Michael Akinleye as Secretary. Other members are Bose Yakubu from Ijero Local Government, Akinlabi Idowu from Ikole and Abiodun Fawekun from Ido/Osi.

When asked whether the congress has the power to remove a state SWC members, Aribasoye retorted: “Anybody can convene the congress and it is the most powerful organ of the party, so our decision is binding on the party”.

But some aspirants led by former governor, Segun Oni and 26 others have tackled the position of the NWC that the committee that conducted the disrupted election should return to the state and continue the exercise.

At a meeting in Ado Ekiti in reaction to the statement credited to the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi on Ekiti crisis, the aspirants maintained that the ballot cast on Saturday in five local governments before the violence had been rendered invalid.

Spokesperson of the aspirant, Dr. Yaya-Kolade, said the fact that the results were not counted, collated and announced at the venue, had vitiated the process, pointing out that the whole world could see how they smashed the ballot boxes and displayed it on swampy ground that day, the ballot papers were not counted and its credibility has been vitiated.

Former Governor Segun Oni in his reaction, blasted the protesters, who purportedly removed the State Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe on account of alleged compromise of the primary, describing them as misguided party members.

Oni, in his reaction to the formation of a caretaker committee to replace the SWC, said: “This is a political party and nobody can just wake up and say he wants to remove party leaders without following due process.

There are processes spelt out for the removal of a State Chairman and other members of his council. Unfortunately, these people are getting desperate and they continue to get desperate and this will lead us nowhere.

“We can’t be coerced, intimidated or repressed by anybody; this party belongs to all of us. They should be careful, so that they won’t lead us into chaos. We beg those propelling them, those behind them to take caution in the interest of our party”, he stated.

In his reaction, the embattled state chairman Awe, denied ever working with Fayose to rock the APC’s boat in the governorship poll, saying he remains Fayose’s number one political enemy in the state.

‘Enugu APC congress peaceful’
In another development, contrary to allegation by some aggrieved members of the APC that they were sidelined in the recently concluded Ward Congress of the party in Enugu State, the APC in the state has dismissed the allegation, insisting that the congresses were the most peaceful in the country.

This is even as the Appeal Panel for the congress led by Charles Babagbale has commenced sitting to look into petitions and complaints by aggrieved members of the party.

Addressing journalists at the APC secretariat in Enugu, Babagbale said the panel commenced sitting on Moday and so far has received only one petition.

He called on aggrieved members of the party to formally come forward with their complaints to enable them look into such complaints, adding that the panel will round up on Wednesday this week.

According to him, reports reaching the panel indicate that congresses actually took place across the states contrary to allegations by some aggrieved members that the exercise did not hold.

Babagbale, further disclosed that for now, the three man panel was not in a position to ascertain whether there was parallel congress or not as alleged by some aggrieved members.

Also speaking during the media briefing, the APC Chairman, Dr, Ben Nwoye, posited that the congresses were very successful in the 260 wards across the seventeen local government of the state, adding that for the first time in the history of congress in Enugu State, people en-masse from the grassroots to vote for candidates of their choice without inducement.

He, however, regretted that the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyema, was allegedly being economical with the truth on the congress, insisting that he failed to follow laid rules and regulation guiding the conduct of the congress.

Nwoye said it was unfortunate the Minister rather than coming to the state party secretariat to get necessary information from the congress committee that came from National Headquarters of the party in Abuja, chose to hold his own meeting in a hotel.

He accused him of instigating crisis as well as to create impression that there were parallel congress whereas there were none, stressing that “you don’t create parallel structure through wishful thinking”.

The APC Chairman, however, expressed happiness that chieftains of the party in the state such as Ex-Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, immediate past governor of the state, Sullivan Chime, and National Vice Chairman of the party in the South East, Chief Emma Enekwu among others have adjudged the congress as peaceful and hitch free.