Ondo APC Members Demand Release of ‘Authentic’ Primary Results Amid Protest in Akure
Women and youth members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State on Monday took to the streets of Akure, demanding the immediate release of what they described as the authentic results of the party’s Senate and House of Representatives primaries.
The protesters, who marched through major roads in the state capital, accused the party’s national leadership of substituting candidates and altering outcomes from the direct primary elections conducted across the state’s 203 wards and 18 local government areas.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Let Our Votes Count,” “Ondo State Says No to Abuja Result,” “We No Go Gree,” and “Ondo State Women Stand with Governor Aiyedatiwa,” the demonstrators caused temporary traffic disruptions while insisting that the will of party members must be respected.
Addressing journalists, the APC Women Leader in Ondo State, Princess Oluwayemisi Iji-Ayeola, alleged that the results of the primaries had been withheld for nearly a month, only for names of individuals who allegedly did not participate in the exercise to emerge on a circulated list.
She maintained that the direct primary election was free, fair and credible, producing candidates accepted by party members across the state.
According to her, several efforts had been made by party leaders to engage the APC National Secretariat, stressing that the genuine results from ward, local government and state levels remained intact and verifiable.
“What we are saying now is that the Federal Government should please help us get the National Secretariat to release our genuine results. We have our own results from the ward level to the local government and the state, and they are in our archive.
“The ones they are doctoring should be discarded, and they should bring out the original results. We want our own candidates to emerge, not candidates we do not know,” she said.
Iji-Ayeola warned that party members would continue to seek redress until justice was done and the mandate freely given during the primaries was upheld.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Seun Osamaye, said the protest was aimed at rejecting what the women described as a fake list that did not reflect the votes cast during the direct primary election.
She urged the APC National Secretariat to ensure transparency in the appeal process and allow the wishes of party members to determine the party’s candidates for the 2027 general elections.
Osamaye also appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene, expressing confidence that fairness and justice would prevail.
The APC Youth Leader in the state, Ojo Bright, described the situation as a threat to internal democracy, alleging that candidates who emerged through the direct primary process had been replaced.
He called on the party’s national leadership to release the authentic results of the Senate and House of Representatives primaries, insisting that members would resist any attempt to undermine the democratic process within the APC.
The protest followed the direct primary elections conducted weeks ago to elect the party’s candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
