By Dayo Johnson, Akure

Less than twelve hours after the declaration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State as the winner of the governorship primary election, the appeal committee received three petitions from the aggrieved aspirants, who participated in the exercise.

The three aspirants have asked the party to cancel the exercise and order a fresh election

Chairman of the five-member appeal committee for the All Progressive Congress governorship primary in the state, Mohammed Abubakar, said this in Akure, the state capital.

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Abubakar, who was former governor of Bauchi State, said the petitions were received from three of the governorship aspirants, namely Olugbenga Edema, Jimi Odimayo and Adewale Akinterinwa.

He explained that the three aggrieved aspirants complained that the primary did not hold in their various wards and the process was marred by irregularities.

According to him “So far, we have received three petitions; one from Olugbenga Edema, Omoba Jimmy Odimayo, and the last one from Adewale Akinterinwa after the conclusion of the primary and declaration of the candidate of the party.”

The former governor said that, “The situation I met on ground was an inconclusive election that needed to be repeated in one local government. They were able to repeat election in that local government and by early this morning, they were able to declare the results of the primary.

“It is traditional in APC to set up a committee like this in order to follow up on the fallout of the primary election. It’s as a result of this that I invited the gentlemen of the press to be here today so that I can announce to them, the presence of this committee and the readiness of this committee to receive whatever complaints as a fallout from the primary election.

“The committee will be here till on Tuesday to collect whatever complaints that may be.

“Let me use this opportunity to assure members of our party that this committee intends to be thorough and transparent in treating any complaint that we will receive.

“I can assure you that within a space of few days, we will consider total number of petitions we received and render a report to the national headquarters of our party before the party takes a final decision on the issue of the primary.

“As I’m speaking with you, only three petitions have been received.

“I am calling on all the aspirants that have complaint(s) to please, feel free to forward it to us.

“We have since established our office at the headquarters of the party for the collection of this appeal if there are.

He said that the secretary of the committee, Obiocha Israel, would be available at the temporary office in Akure within two days to receive the petition.

The chairman promised to be fair in treating the petitions.

Recall that the chairman of the governorship primary election committee and the Kogi state governor,Ahmed Ododo, had declared governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the last Saturday’s governorship primary election.

However, four of the governorship aspirants, have kicked against the conduct of the election, alledging irregularities.

They include , Chief Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa, Jimi Odimayo and and Folakemi Omogoroye.

Their supporters staged a protest in Akure, the state capital to express their displeasure over the conduct of the primary.