Why we’re contesting Oyetola’s victory at primaries – Aregbesola’s loyalists

Loyalists of the Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, have explained why they are contesting the outcome of last Saturday primary election in Osun State.

The Aregbesola’s faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said they would approach the Appeal Committee to be set up by the National Secretariat to seek redress.

A statement by the Publicity Secretary of the faction, Mr. Abiodun Agboola, on Monday in Osogbo, quoted the factional Chairman, Alhaji Rasaq Salinsile, as saying this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Osogbo.

Governor Gboyega Oyetola won the party’s primary on Saturday. Oyetola, who is seeking re-election, pulled 222,169, votes to defeat his closet rival, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, the preferred candidate of Aregbesola, who scored 12,921.

The governor won in all the 30 Local Government Areas of the state in the direct primary election.

He also defeated Mr. Lasun Yusuf, a former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, who scored 460 votes.

But Salinsile described the primary election as a charade, ruse and sham.

He said the faction rejected the result of the primary election and convinced that justice had not been served

Salinsile said: “We put it on record the fact that there were so many anomalies, all of which incidentally, we have made known before Saturday’s event.

“We put on record that as at the day of election, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, our governorship aspirant, was not allowed to have access to the membership register by which the exercise took place.

“By this, he was denied knowledge of how many members the party had as at the day of the election which is contrary to morality and the law.

READ ALSO: APC primaries: How Oyetola humiliated Aregbesola in Osun

“We put on record the fact that many people were disenfranchised as APC members who trooped to the election centres with their membership slips, could not find their names on the register.

“Contrary to the guidelines, accreditation did not take place in many election centres, while result sheets were unavailable.

“We are, therefore, convinced that justice has not been served and therefore rejects the result and will be approaching the Appeal Committee to be set up by the National Secretariat.”

TheStar