Fidelis David in Akure
Seven governorship aspirants on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State yesterday raised the alarm over alleged printing of fake membership cards by one unnamed aspirant ahead of the party’s primary slated for next Saturday.
The seven aspirants, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa, Diran Iyantan, Prof Dayo Faduyile, Gbenga Edema, and Jimi Odimayo, in a jointly signed petition addressed the national chairman of the party, alleging that the cards were distributed to nonmembers of the party in a desperate move to win the Saturday’s primary or discredit the exercise.
Specifically, the seven aspirants from the southern senatorial district of the state alleged that the desperate aspirant wanted to ensure nonregistered members of the party with fake membership cards vote in the primary with a plan to present this in the court of law to discredit the exercise.
The aspirants, therefore, cautioned the party’s leadership to ensure the Saturday primary is conducted in adherence to the dictates of the Electoral Act to avoid risky litigation.
The petition read: “We have noticed some issues of concern in respect of the said primary election which if not resolved quickly, may hinder the smooth running of the primary and may be detrimental to a free, fair, credible and acceptable election. One of the issues is that of the revalidation of the membership register to be used for the primary election.
“While we commend the position of the party to revalidate the existing membership register which is the certified true copies, as certified by INEC, and based on this directive of the party, as aspirants, we have paid over N300million to the coffers of the party to cover the annual dues of all party members whose names appear on the register, unfortunately, the exercise was shrouded in so much of secrecy that a lot of our party members especially our numerous supporters could not have their membership cards revalidated before the committee that came from the headquarters left Ondo State for Abuja.
“We have been inundated by reports that a particular aspirant has gone ahead with massive printing of fake party slips, which he has distributed to a lot of persons who are not even our party members.”
They alleged that the intention of the aspirant is to corrupt the integrity of the membership register on the day of the primary by making accreditation of party members impossible as non-party members have already been recruited to flood the venues of the primary election that day.
“This massive and pervasive production of the membership cards will certainly precipitate a situation where everyone holding membership cards, notwithstanding that their names are not on the register, will be allowed to vote without accreditation. Voting without accreditation remains illegal and unacceptable.
“The chairman should note that Section 77(2) (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022 makes it mandatory for all political parties to have a credible membership register which must be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and certified by it not later than 30 days before the Congress,” the stated.
To avoid any legal or constitutional conundrum, the petitioners advised that the party make accreditation of party members mandatory at the election venue, and that every member of the party whose name appears on the membership register already certified by INEC should be allowed to vote once he/she is able to present his/her membership slip for accreditation.
“It is our prayer, therefore, that the leadership of the party make available to us the membership register already validly certified by the INEC as the only lawful register to be used by the party for the conduct of the primary election slated for 20/04/2024. No other register can lawfully be used for the said,” they said.
Meanwhile, this is coming a day after a socio-political group within APC, Ondo Vanguard For Good Governance, led by Evangelist Tade Ojo had alleged that the state Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, was printing fake APC register and membership cards and distributing same to non-members of the party.
The group alleged that: “This undemocratic action heralded their plots to rig the primary election as it has emboldened the state governor and his men to print forged membership cards for their members whose names are contained in the manufactured membership register they gave to the officials that came for the membership validation exercise and also encouraged their agents not to conduct the delegate congress stipulated in the APC guidelines.
“Having realised that the governor is not popular among the APC members in Ondo State, the state governor and these agents of distabilisation have resolved to simply concoct the results of the primary election, and award arbitrary figure to the governor as the winner of the primary election.”
