Wole Balogun, Ado-Ekiti
Ekiti State chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief Jide Awe, has called for the cancellations of last Saturday’s primary of the party.
The exercise was disrupted violently by some suspected party thugs.
The primary was to produce a candidate for the party for the July 14 governorship poll.
Addressing newsmen, on Sunday night, at the party state secretariat in Ajilosun, Awe said some of the lapses in the conduct of the primary were that some aspirants agents and observers not known to the state executives were allowed into the venue of the exercise, the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium.
He also blamed the unfortunate development on the fact that state executives were not allowed to play significant role in the exercise and the downpour that equally disrupted the process.
Urging the national body to urgently cancel the inconclusive primary, he said: “There is no way you can conduct a primary without allowing State Executive Council to have a say. The aspirants were not happy. There are lots of lessons to learn as a party.”
Awe also called for outright cancellation of the disrupted election, adding: “One of the cardinal principles of a free and fair election is for the electorate not to have a doubt. When a system is doubted in an election it becomes invalid.
“When a system is disrupted, it becomes invalid. An invalid primary can’t produce a valid candidate. We want to have a credible election so that the electorate will be able to vote for us at the main election.
“With what happened we believe sincerely the committee is culpable and the security agencies are compromised. So, the thugs that disrupted the election some people allowed them in.”