Violence Breaks Out In Ondo APC Governorship Primary As Hoodlums Steal Electoral Materials

SaharaReporters reports that the many supporters of two aspirants of the All Progress Congress (APC) gubernatorial primary election in Ondo State on Saturday engaged in violence before the poll began at Ward 1 at Stella Maris College, Okitipupa area of the state.

It was gathered that the party members, who had gathered in large numbers to participate in the candidate selection process, fled the scene when violence erupted among the rival factions.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the accreditation and election process had not yet begun when violence broke out, forcing the voters to flee for safety.

One of the accredited voters, who preferred anonymity, revealed that one of the aspirant's agents entered the ward, stole the validation and accreditation documents and fled.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that some of the stakeholders in the ongoing APC governorship primary election in Ondo State cried foul over how the election committee handled the electoral process.

The aggrieved party members alleged that the committee which was headed by the Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, was biased in the assignment.

Ododo, who arrived in the state on Saturday morning, addressed some of the aggrieved stakeholders at the distribution centre in the Ijapo area of Akure, saying the electoral materials had been sent to the Ondo South and South-North Senatorial Districts remaining that of the Ondo Central (as of 10.30am).

“There was no issue, I just came this (Saturday) morning and I was told that the election materials have been taken to the Ondo South and Ondo North Senatorial Districts," the committee chairman stated.

But one of the aspirants, Gbenga Edema, disagreed with the Kogi governor, saying no election materials were taken to anywhere.

He said, “I have been here since 6.30am and I didn’t see any material taken out of this place. The returning officers and electoral officers of my ward, Mahin Ward 2 in the Ilaje Local Government are here and unable to collect any materials.

“What we are asking for is a credible election. So, we are asking the leadership of the party to look into this. If they’re not ready for this election, they should postpone it and the right thing should be done.”