Seven governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo state have petitioned the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, over revalidation of members of the party ahead of Saturday’s primary election.

The seven aspirants are Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Chief Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa, Prince Diran Iyantan, Prof Dayo Faduyile, Hon. Gbenga Edema and Hon. Jimi Odimayo.

They warned that the issues might be detrimental to a free, fair, credible and acceptable election if not resolved quickly.

The aspirants, In the petition, said the revalidation of Ondo APC members was shrouded in secrecy which made their supporters not have their membership cards revalidated before the committee left the state for Abuja.

According to them, they paid N300m to the coffers of the party to cover annual dues of all party members whose names appear on the register.

The seven aspirants said they have been inundated by reports that a particular aspirant has embarked on massive printing of fake party slips and distributed to individuals who are not members of the Ondo APC.

The statement read: “The intention of this 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.

“To avoid any legal or constitutional conundrum, we advise that the party makes 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 Independent National Electoral Commission (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 primary.” (The Nation)