Women and youth leaders in the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday, staged a peaceful protest over alleged imposition of candidates for the National Assembly.
The protesters were carrying placards with inscriptions such as: “Let our vote count”, “We say no to imposition”, “We say no to corner corner”, “APC NWC, let our vote count”, among others.
The protesters stated that the purported candidates list in circulation does not reflect the outcome of the National Assembly primaries held in May in the state.
The protest halted vehicular movement on the Ilesha-Akure-Benin expressway.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Seun Osamaye, while addressing newsmen during the protest, said the women were dissatisfied with what she described as a list that did not reflect the outcome of the party’s primaries.
Osamaye said the women voted across the state’s 203 wards and expected the published list of candidates to reflect the mandate freely given by party members.
“We know those we voted for and those who won at the polls. The list being circulated online does not reflect the mandate of our members. We are demanding fairness, transparency and justice. Let the people’s votes count,” she said.
Osamaye appealed to the national leadership of the party to be transparent and ensure that the authentic results of the primaries were upheld.
One of the protesters, Mr Bright Ojo, described the protest as a peaceful effort to defend the integrity of the party’s internal democratic process.
Bright urged the APC leadership to respect the outcome of the direct primaries, saying party members wanted the candidates they voted on the list.
APC Women Leader in the state, Princess Oluwayemisi Iji-Ayeola, alleged that the names released did not reflect the outcome of the primaries conducted across the state.
“We are crying against injustice. We had what we considered a credible election and expected the results to be announced accordingly. Instead, names of people we did not vote for were announced,” she said.
Iji-Ayeola said the party leadership in the state had made several representations to the national secretariat, urging it to release what she described as the genuine results from the elections.
“We have copies of the results from the ward, local government and state levels. We are appealing to the national leadership of the party to release the authentic results in the interest of justice and fairness,” she said.
