Ondo APC Women and Youths Protest Against Imposed Candidates

Women and youth leaders in the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held a peaceful protest on Monday. They were unhappy about what they called the imposition of candidates for the National Assembly.

The protesters carried placards with messages like: “Let our vote count”, “We say no to imposition”, “We say no to corner corner”, and “APC NWC, let our vote count”.

They claimed that the list of candidates being shared does not match the results from the national assembly primaries held in May.

The protest caused traffic to stop on the Ilesha-Akure-Benin expressway.

Seun Osamaye, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, spoke to reporters during the protest. She said the women were not happy with a list that does not show the results of the party’s primaries.

Mrs Osamaye mentioned that women voted in all 203 wards across the state. They expected the published list of candidates to show the choices made by party members.

“We know those we voted for and those who won at the polls. The list circulating online does not reflect our members’ mandate. We are demanding fairness, transparency and justice. Let the people’s votes count,” she said.

She called on the party’s national leaders to be open and ensure that the real results of the primaries were respected.

Another protester, Bright Ojo, described the protest as a peaceful effort to protect the party’s internal democracy. He urged the APC leadership to honour the results of the direct primaries. Party members wanted to see the candidates they voted for on the list.

Oluwayemisi Iji-Ayeola, the APC Women Leader in the state, also spoke out. She claimed that the names released did not match the results of the primaries held across the state.

“We are crying against injustice. We had what we considered a credible election and expected the results to be announced accordingly. Instead, names of people we did not vote for were announced,” she said.

Ms Iji-Ayeola said the party leadership in the state had made several requests to the national secretariat. They urged it to release what she called the genuine election results.

“We have copies of the results from the ward, local government and state levels. We are appealing to the national leadership of the party to release the authentic results in the interest of justice and fairness,” she said.