By ERICJAMES OCHIGBO

A group of concerned members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ondo have beckoned on the National Chairman of the party to intervene and avert a looming crisis in the state.

The group, under the umbrella Concerned Ondo State APC Leaders and Members Forum, made the call in Abuja, in an open letter, signed by the Chairman, Mr. Tomoloju Obembe, and the Secretary, Mr. Gabriel Ajetumobi.

In the letter, Obembe said that under the watch of the State Party Chairman, Mr. Ade Adetimehin, units, wards and Local Government Area party meetings have not been held since October 2020.

He said that there is lack of internal democracy in the state chapter of the party and that there is a lot of irregularities in the selection of delegates.

Obembe alleged that the state chairman has anointed aspirants ahead of the 2023 general election and he is using party machineries in their favour against other aspirants.

According to him, Adetimehin directed wards and local government executive members not to grant audience or interact with other aspirants who are not privileged to be anointed.

“We understand that the State Government has set up a committee, chaired by the Deputy Governor and a few Government appointees, to scrutinize lists submitted by the hand-picked cronies of Adetimehin, contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act as amended and APC guidelines.

“It is obvious that Adetimehin and his crew do not understand that delegates’ election is part of the primaries for selection of candidates and must be held in accordance with the Electoral Act and APC Constitution.

“We hereby remind the national chairman of our great party of the actions that led to the Zamfara and Rivers State debacle in 2019.

“The national chairman is also reminded of the Supreme Court’s judgment on the candidature of Andy Uba in the last governorship election in Anambra State, wherein the learned Justices of the Supreme Court nullified the candidature of Andy Uba on the ground that APC did not obey its own rules.

“The actions of Adetimehin are clearly at variance with the APC Constitution and the party guidelines of the forthcoming primaries.

“Adetimehin is laying the foundation for a similar outcome in Ondo state as party members who have bought nomination forms for different offices, including as ad hoc delegates, are gathering facts of clear violation of the Electoral Act.

“The national chairman and leadership of APC should recall that APC came second in Ondo during the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections on account of the anti-party activities of Adetimehin and the state leadership of the party.

“The grounds for rebellious anti-party actions by aggrieved party members in protest over the tyrannical acts of the state leadership of APC have been laid by Adetimehin.

“We ask that the chairman and NWC call Adetimehin to order or in the alternative suspend Adetimehin from office as he is unfit to run the party at this critical time.

“Otherwise, he should be excluded from the forthcoming primaries as he is not impartial and cannot guarantee a free, fair and credible primaries acceptable to members of the party,’’ he said.

At the time of filing this report, all attempts to reach Adetimehin failed as he was not responding to calls, text or WhatApp messages to his phone. (NAN)

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