A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ayirimi Emami, has called on the Governor of Ondo State and the winner of last weekend’s governorship primary, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to initiate a genuine reconciliation process with all the aggrieved aspirants in the election.
This is even as two more aspirants, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim and Folakemi Omogoroye, have submitted separate petitions to the Appeal Committee against the exercise, making it a total of five aspirants currently challenging Aiyedatiwa’s victory.
Emami, in an interview with journalists in Abuja yesterday, said Aiyedatiwa should genuinely reach out to all the 15 other aspirants in the primary election and welcome them into his campaign for the greater good of the APC and the progress of the oil-rich state.
Emphasising a “no victor, no vanquished” approach towards the other contenders from the primary, Emami stressed that unity among all aspirants would bolster the party’s chances of success and accelerate developmental initiatives in the state.
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He also urged the other primary contenders to set aside differences and rally behind Governor Aiyedatiwa’s candidacy.
But in their separate petitions submitted on Tuesday, both Ibrahim and Omogoroye claimed that the primary exercise was an anticlimax, a mockery of democracy, and a complete negation of every known democratic tenant.
The aggrieved aspirants called for the total cancellation of the exercise, urging the appeals committee chairman to order a fresh election.
Meanwhile, Ade Adetimehin, chairman of the APC in the state, has asked aggrieved aspirants to sheathe their swords and join hands with Governor Aiyedatiwa to win the forthcoming governorship election.
Speaking while receiving the governor during a “Thank You Visit” to the party’s secretariat, Adetimehin stated that the primary that produced Aiyedatiwa was “family affairs.”
Also speaking, the governor reiterated that the “primary has come and gone; all aspirants are winners. It was a family affair of a contest, and we are all members of the same family. We now need to put our house in order for the battle ahead.”
