Three of the sixteen aspirants in the APC’s governorship primary election had petitioned the party over the outcome of the poll, demanding a cancellation of the exercise.
Some aggrieved All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirants in the just concluded party primary ahead of the Ondo State governorship election are set to take legal actions against the Governor Usman Ododo-led committee which conducted the election.
Three of the sixteen aspirants in the APC’s governorship primary election had petitioned the party over the outcome of the poll, demanding a cancellation of the exercise.
The aggrieved aspirants had alleged that the committee which was headed by the Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, was biased in the assignment.
The incumbent Governor Lucky Ayiedatiwa was declared the winner of the primary in the early hours of Sunday, April 21.
However, one of the aspirants, Mr Gbenga Edema, while speaking on his next line of action, said they were currently waiting to know the outcome of the committee set up to look into the appeal.
He said, “Friday was the day the party’s appeal committee was to look at our complaint. I’m sure they must have looked at the case we presented to them and we are waiting for the outcome.
“There is what we call Internal mechanism for conflict resolution in our party.
“By the time we know the verdict of the appeal committee whether they are sustaining our appeal or dismissing it for lacking in merit, that is when we will take the final decision on whether to go to court or not. For now, we have to exhaust that process.”
Asked if he would support Aiyedatiwa in the forthcoming election if the party’s NWC dismissed their appeal, he said “I have told Ganduje that you can’t build something on nothing and think it will sustain itself, it is not possible.
“And I also told them that when the foundation is destroyed, according to the Bible, what can the righteous do?
“So, it does not matter whether I support him or not, the fact remains that what they did was illegal and as far as it remains illegal, there is nothing I can do. There is no way I can be involved in illegality”.
On the alleged certificate forgery, Edema said, “we have raised that issue before the party screening committee and if in their wisdom they believe that these are no issues, good luck to them.
“I told them that as members of the party, we needed to be proactive so that we don’t do what happened in Bayelsa.
“You remember that even in Zamfara State, we didn’t have a candidate up to the House of Assembly in 2019. The same thing happened in Rivers State.
“Sometimes the party deliberately forgets that these things can have adverse effects on the party.
“If they refuse to see the danger ahead, we as party members have done our own best. Since they refuse to listen to us, the law will take its full course.”