Kogi APC Guber Primaries: Group Carpets Sen. Adeyemi, Others Over Call For Cancellation
OAU Mandate Group, socio-political group loyal to the APC governorship candidate in Kogi State, Ahmed Usman Ododo has taken a swipe at the Senator representing Kogi West, Sen. Smart Adeyemi and other aspirants in the April 14 APC governorship primary election in the state for alleging that the exercise did not take place.
At a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, the Kogi West Senator along with other aspirants in the just concluded primary election, including former Minister of State Labour and Productivity, Professor Stephen Ocheni, son of late ex-Governor Abubakar Audu, Shuiabu, and a member of the National Working Committee of the APC, Murtala Yakubu Ajaka said the declaration of Ododo as winner of the primary election was a “charade”, calling for the cancellation of the process.
In a swift reaction however, the OAU Mandate Group in a release on Sunday said the claim that the primary election never took place is both laughable and unfortunate, especially from a supposed distinguished senator along with his co-aggrived contestants.
The group in the statement by its Director of Community, Dr Samuel Olufemi insisted that the exercise took place in all the 21 local government areas of the state under the supervision of the electoral committee chairman and governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle.
OAU Mandate Group expressed shock that unfounded allegations are being bandied to discredit a free and fair process that saw tens and thousands of Kogi people came out to participate in the democratic process.
According to the group, aggrieved aspirants are not happy that the exercise did not go their way after they had allegedly attempted to comprise the process by offering bribes to members of the committee.
“We have it in good authority how Sen. Smart Adeyemi and co-travellers desperately and undemocratically tried to induce the electoral committee chairman and members with huge sums of money, in order to have the pendulum to swing in their favour. Laughably, the same people are accusing the state governor Yahaya Bello of influencing the outcome of the primary election”, the group alleged.
It called on the aggrieved members to instead approach the electoral appeal committee to address their disagreements for the success of the party in the upcoming governorship election.
