Mr. Kunle Adegoke, one of the governorship aspirants that participated in the Osun APC primaries, has insisted that the exercise was not free and fair.
He called for the cancellation of the primaries.
Adegoke disclosed this to newsmen in Lagos, noting that“ I will be bound by court decisions on the issue but if I feel that justice was not done, I may leave the party to seek another platform for my aspiration.”
Before the primaries, twelve aspirants rejected the direct primary option adopted by the party’s leadership, insisting that it will not be free and fair.
They also argued that the reason why they were calling for the cancellation was due to the fact that there was no verifiable data base of APC members from the unit level, electoral ward or state level.
Adegoke added that the system used for the primaries gave room for manipulations.
“I do not have problems with the direct primary option because it is recognised in our constitution. My problem is that the decision not only came late, there was also no verifiable register for members of the party in Osun State.
“There is no ascertained APC party members/strength in Osun State. The party membership registration has never been updated since 2014.
“The tradition has been indirect votes by delegates, which we were all working with until two days to the primaries where we had no time to verify the register.
“The APC constitution, which I also participated in drawing has rules on the adoption of direct method of voting in primaries.
“The rules are that the membership register must be verified by aspirants way ahead and must be updated before primaries,’’ he said.
Adegoke said that he had tried to reach out to the party’s structure, based on laid down rules for petitions within the party but was not successful.
“At the Oshogbo office of the APC there was no committee in place to accept my petition and Omo-Agege, who led the primary’s election committee for Osun State has not responded to my calls.
“I am a founding member of the APC right from the days of the Alliance for Democracy. I am desirous of remaining a member of the APC.
“I have handled over 50 pro-bono cases for the party nationwide. I love my party but I want justice to be done. Purchasing a nomination form for N8m is not easy for me but I did that.
“All I want is fairness in the process and I will pursue the matter to the highest court of the land if it has to be so,” he added.
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