The House of Representatives election primary results of the All Progressives Congress, held in Owo/Ose Federal Constituency of Ondo State, have been rejected by one of the aspirants of the party, Mr Ghani Arobo.
The exercise was held in Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of the state, on Saturday, while Mr Kayode Ijalana was declared the winner of the election by the APC House of Representatives Primary Election Committee, scoring 7,098, while Arobo polled 75.
In a statement issued by the Director General, Ghani Rotimi Arobo Campaign Organisation, Mr Ayo Ilevare, alleged that the exercise was marred by irregularities, describing it as an assault on democracy.
According to the campaign organisation, there was alleged manipulation and falsification of the results before the announcement.
The statement read in part, “The so-called results that have been paraded represent nothing but a sham deliberately cooked up to subvert the sovereign will of the people. We reject it in its entirety, as it is not democracy but an assault on the democratic process. Despite the best efforts of the national secretariat of the party to enhance internal democracy.
“The attempt to impose an outcome which contradicts the reality of the will of the people we got, we firmly reject. This negates the overwhelming mandate freely given on the ground. To be clear, we had agents across all polling and voting centres. We recorded a landslide, an unquestionable victory.
“The people of Owo-Ose spoke with one voice for renewed hope, genuine representation, and the liberation of our constituency from the current state of helplessness. Our people want improved representation, sent by them, and not imposed on them. No amount of manipulation, result-falsification, or backroom deals will be allowed to truncate or annul that sacred mandate.”
The campaign group warned that the alleged manipulation of results was not only unlawful and unethical but also undermined the democratic will of the people.
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