Controversies and protests are trailing the conduct of governorship primary elections in Ekiti State by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as annointed men of Governor Kayode Fayemi and his predecessor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose emerged as candidates of their parties ahead of the June 18 elections.
The immediate past Chairman of PDP in Ekiti State, Bisi Kolawole, on Wednesday, emerged as the candidate of the party.
Kolawole, who is Fayose’s preferred aspirant, garnered 671 votes to trounce his closest rival, former Governor Olusegun Oni, who scored 330 votes and other aspirants.
However, there was chaos at the venue of the primaries on Wednesday as members exchanged blows over the delegates’ list presented by the party leaders.
Some of the party members claimed the list presented was doctored by those who wanted to manipulate the results in favour of their chosen candidates.
Meanwhile, seven out of eight APC governorship aspirants have demanded for the suspension of the ongoing primaries in the state.
The aspirants — Kayode Mojo, Demola Popoola, Femi Bamisile, Bamidele Faparusi, Dayo Adeyeye, Opeyemi Bamidele and Afolabi Oluwasola — are protesting alleged irregularities in the conduct of party primaries.
They thronged the party Secretariat in Ado Ekiti with their supporters on Thursday, claiming the process has been manipulated to favour Abiodun Oyebanji who is tagged Governor Kayode Fayemi’s preferred choice.
They also accused the superintending officials of distributing voting materials earlier than scheduled with a sinister objective to give a sole aspirant an edge.
They warned that the controversial primary may spell doom for the party as the result of the election will not be acceptable.
Though voting is on-going at various wards across the state, Governor Kayode Fayemi’s annointed man, the immediate past Secretary to Ekiti State Government, Abiodun Oyebanji is most likely to emerge flag-bearer of the progressive family.
The APC is adopting the direct primary mode for the exercise and aspirants have been traversing the 177 wards in the state to woo voters.
