The immediate past Secretary to Ekiti State Government, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji has been declared winner of the governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State.
Oyebanji, who enjoys the support of the State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria’s Governors Forum, Kayode Fayemi defeated Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who is said to be the preferred aspirant of the National Leader of the APC and 2023 presidential aspirant, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The Chairman of the committee for the primary election, Governor Mohammed Badaru of Jigawa State declared Oyebanji as the winner of the primaries. He said Oyebanji polled 101,703 votes to defeat seven other contestants.
A total number of 107,877 voters were accredited for the exercise out of which 104,983 voted.
Though the seven other aspirants with their supporters had in the morning thronged the party secretariat to protest irregularities in the conduct of the party primary, the primary still held at most of the designated wards.
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The aggrieved aspirants claimed the process was manipulated to favour Mr. Oyebanji who is tagged Governor Kayode Fayemi’s preferred choice by distributing voting materials earlier than scheduled among other grounds.
They warned that the controversial primary will not be acceptable and may spell doom for the party.