Ondo APC Primaries: So Credible With Intrigues

The All Progressives Congress (APC) election in Ondo state has come and gone but the lessons and memories Iinger on. The credibility of the election is totally unquestionable even though the process that led to it can not be said to be entirely flawless.

However, as an active participant in the process that culminated in the eventual exercise I must confess that the experience was both interesting and mind boggling. In Ondo state APC, the more you look the less you see. That’s what you get when you built on a faulty foundation. Congratulations to Chief Rotimi Akeredolu SAN and the entire APC family for the successful primary election.

Unfortunately the celebration was truncated because some people are still crying over spilled milk. I heard stories and complaints about adulterated delegates list. This is definitely uncalled for.

A winner has emerged and should be supported. A certain list was released about two weeks before the election. That was the list that all aspirants were working with. However after the postponement of the election, another list was released which was a bit different from the original one.

This was greeted with protest by eighty percent (80%) of aspirants and party members. All Governor Badaru led committee did was to revert to the original list in the spirit of fair play. Whoever faults the process because of this is being economical with the truth.

The only faulty part of the process is the quality of people that made up the delegates of the APC, in Ondo state. Two thousand, seven hundred and seventy-four (2774) APC members were accredited to determine the fate of twenty-four (24) aspirants, one of whom is to lead Ondo state for at least the next four years, if APC wins on November 26th 2016 .

These people were made up of ward chairmen, party secretaries, youth leaders, women leaders, legal advisers, treasurers, financial secretaries, organizing secretaries, auditors and others, some of who couldn’t write their positions correctly.

In the last three (3) months, most of the aspirants visited these delegates to campaign and woo them for their votes. Unfortunately, you hardly see any of them talk about the antecedents and plans of each aspirants that visited them.

The main issue was always on how much the aspirant dropped. No matter the message, program and manifestos of the aspirants, the most important interest to our delegates was money and nothing else.

These are the people put together to choose flag bearer for our beloved APC. This is one major reason why it was so easy to monetize the whole process. Some of these delegates were paid an average of one hundred and fifty thousand naira (#150,000) and made to swear (ayelala) with their wife (or husband) and kids. That was the behind the scene reality of the most credible, free, fair and transparent primary election, ever witnessed in the part of this clime.

There is no big deal about the fact that the electorate were bought but the strange thing however was the spiritual aspect; that delegates were made to put their lives and that of their families on line because of money was pathetic.

This further confirmed the quality of people that made up the delegates. I pray to see the day when our aspirants will be judged by their antecedents and manifestoes instead of how much they can pay to buy their way through.

All the aspirants are eminently qualified to lead Ondo state but the result of the election does not reflect objective assessment; rather it went to the highest bidder. That is the kind of society we live in because almost all aspirants gave out money!

While the voting was going on, Senator Alasoadura and Chief Jamiu Ekungba shared their respective experiences and frustrations in the hands of the delegates with us, the aspirant's agents. They were unanimous in their complaint about the quality of people that made up the delegates. One of the agents sarcastically said they are not delegates but “delicates”. Very funny but sad!

Where do we go from here? The time has come for the elite to get involved and fill the party structure with credible people who will not see election as an avenue to make money but opportunity to elect credible individual to be in government. The quality of people at the helms of affairs of the party from ward level to local government, state and national determines the type of representation we elect at every tier of government.

All APC faithful must rally round the eventual winner for the good of the party. Barr. Akeredolu needs the help of all and sundry. He won the primary with only twenty-four percent (24%) of the total vote cast.

The implication of this is that he can not claim to be fully on ground with such meagre votes. Therefore he needs the support and cooperation of other aspirants. The party and the people come first. As such all aggrieved camps must swallow their pride and work with the winner for the good of the All Progressive Congress.

Once again, congratulations to Aketi and all APC faithful in Ondo state.

Adegboyega Ajayi was the Secretary General of the Olabimtan Campaign Organization.