By Dayo Johnson & Dapo Akinrefon

AKURE —  CRISIS in the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State deepened as the ward Congress, held over the weekend, was marred with violence and irregularities.

Also, some wards, where parallel congresses held, claimed that their executives are the legal excos.

On their part, leaders in Ondo West area, under auspices of Ondo APC Crusaders, insisted that “all our democratically elected ward executives shall be inaugurated shortly.”

In a statement by Messrs Victor Adelosoye, Titilope Adegorusi and Folorunsho Awoduyilemi, the APC Crusdaders said: “We salute the resilience of our members to frustrate the failed attempts of some who considered themselves so powerful as to singularly pocket APC in the state.

“We commend our members who stood as bastion of democracy and perforated the plans of the mighty men that made stringent but failed attempt to close the democratic space by claiming to have singularly purchased all the forms in the state.

“It has never been heard in the history of Nigeria, not even under Abacha political parties, that one man will claim to have obtained all forms for a whole state and declared party Congress concluded before commencement.

“We, however, chose to follow the party guidelines and paid to the designated banks and went out to vote in line with our party guidelines.

“Whereas some national officers decided to abdicate their responsibilities, we remain undaunted and proceeded within the ambit of the law.

“The emerging tyrant who rode to transient power on decades of labour of our members were eventually defeated.

“They abandoned the fields when they realised that they lacked the resiqusite followership within the party to validate their desired strangle hold on the party.

“We, of APC in Ondo Federal Constituency, use this medium to salute and congratulate our teeming members for the successful and peaceful conclusion of the APC ward Congress held across the 22 wards of the federal Constituency.”

 Congress was peaceful— State Chairman

But reacting, the state chairman of APC, Mr. Ade Adetimehin disowned the executives that emerged in the 22 wards in Ondo West.

Adetimehin said APC will only recognise the ward congress conducted by the party, adding that the congress was peaceful across the state.

Congress, a sham, says ex-gov aspirant

Meanwhile, a former Ondo governorship aspirant, Engineer Akinyinka Akinnola has called for the cancellation of the APC congress in Ondo west, saying the exercise was marred by fraudulent practices.

In a statement, Akinnola said there was no congress in the local government as some officials close to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu allegedly manipulated the process to achieve predetermined results.

Akinnola said: “At a meeting of the Ondo West APC leaders of 4th May 2018 in Akure in which I was present, the representative of the Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Victor Olabimtan, openly declared that 55 percent of the executive positions are to be allocated to one Lola Fagbemi and the other 45 percent to another close associate of the governor. He openly said that this was the mandate from the governor and everyone must accept it.

“I was told I was to have no part in the congress as I was not a recognised leader in my own local government where I have influence and recognition by the party members as their leader. I am the largest contributor to all its activities apart from being a former gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of APC. This is laughable.

“This of course was roundly and totally rejected by me as unconstitutional and illegal. Regardless, on Friday 5th of May, instead of holding congresses, names were written in secret locations without the presence of INEC and security officials and forwarded for ratification. The Ondo West caretaker committee chairman, Ebenezer Akinsulire openly boasted to party members that the list was from the governor and must be accepted. We have video footage and photographs of this and other charades that took place in all the 12 wards of Ondo West Local Government.

“Forms were hoarded and never distributed. Thousands of people were disenfranchised by this illegality. We call for the cancellation of the entire exercise.”