The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) over its governorship candidate in Ondo State is yet to abate. Yesterday, factions loyal to the winner of the September 3, 2016
party primaries, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and the runner-up, Dr.
Olusegun Abraham clashed in Akure.Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the APC, John
Odigie-Oyegun, has said that the letter from the party’s National Leader
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, accusing him of being a mole in the party and
manipulating the results in favour of Akeredolu was a little too harsh.
Also, protesters under the aegis of APC Youths Democratic Frontiers
(APCYDF) yesterday stormed APC headquarters in Abuja, berating Tinubu
over his letter to Odigie-Oyegun and accused him of trying to impose his
will on the party. In a related development, the state governor, Olusegun Mimiko, while
receiving the new Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 11,
Mr. Dan Bature yesterday, urged the police to provide unbiased and fair
policing during the polls slated for November 26.6 Abraham’s supporters across the 18 councils in the state had
mobilised for a protest rally in Akure to reject the candidature of
Akeredolu as the party’s governorship candidate.
They marched through the metropolis with placards and inscriptions:
“With Abraham we stand,” “Restore Abraham’s mandate,” “Abraham is APC’s
candidate” and “Abraham is the authentic winner of September 3 primary.” The leader of the protest, Mr. Enas Mohammed, who addressed the large
crowd, gave reasons for the rejection of Akeredolu as the candidate of
the party, clamouring for the cancellation of the primary or restoration
of Abraham’s mandate.The rally however, took a dramatic turn as some party members
allegedly loyal to Akeredolu stormed the secretariat with dangerous
weapons and clashed with Abraham’s supporters. However, the fracas was checked by the timely intervention of the
police and men of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC),
who helped in disarming the warring groups. Odigie-Oyegun, while fielding questions from State House
correspondents shortly after a closed door meeting with President
Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja said: “There is no
crisis with Asiwaju. We have differences of opinion, differences of
perception and I think that is normal.
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