Ondo APC primary not totally flawless, say observers

HE Accredited Observers Group for the last Saturday
governorship primary of Ondo State All Progressives
Congress (APC) yesterday said the exercise was not
perfect.
At a news conference in Akure, the state capital,
members of the six-man group, led by Prince
Richards Adebayo, urged the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to be more involved in
parties’ primaries to give them credibility.
Adebayo said: “We are not condemning the primary
election out-rightly. The voting pattern inside the
dome was transparent. But some of the contestants’
agents alleged and protested that clusters of
delegates were allowed to cast their votes in
contravention of the regulations of the primary
election.
“During the voting exercise, the poll officials detected
that the accreditation of delegates was hastily done
without proper screening and many delegates were
given unstamped tags.
“Some of the delegates that came to the voting centre
were not accredited by the three major accreditation
centres because they were not duly screened in
contravention of the electoral rules and regulations of
the electoral committee.
“The Chairman of the Electoral Committee and Jigawa
State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, informed the
electoral session that he has organised few buses
bring the remaining delegates that were delayed due
to the topology of the area and to enable them cast
their votes on time for the conclusion of the exercise.
“We observed that few of the contestants’ agents
condemned such arrangement of vehicles to convey
delegates to voting centre because it was outside
agreed arrangement.”
The observers noted that such delegates were
brought and allowed to cast their votes without
proper screening before the committee rounded off
the voting exercise.
The group advised political parties to always allow
delegates to exercise their civic rights in compliance
with electoral laws.
It called for necessary attention to any protest or
allegation arising from the primary to prevent the
political party’s disintegration.
Besides, the group cautioned the political class to
discourage electoral violence.
The observers called for internal reconciliation of
post-primary election among the party’s stakeholders
to facilitate political cohesion.
Other members of the group are Moses Ebanor, Sunny
Elekwa, Ibrahim Bauchi, Ladan Zubaru and S.B.
Babafunsho.