Kekemeke
Hon. Isaac Kekemeke has expressed his disapproval of the apparent shoddiness that chaterized the arrangement for the gubernatorial primary election of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State. The election was scheduled for today 20th July, 2020. He is the leading gubernatorial aspirant and hence a participant in the election.
Reacting to the handling of the process by the election committee under the chairmanship of Governor Yaya Bello of Kogi State, Kekemeke who was the pioneer Ondo State chairman of the party said the committee had given the impression that the party had no respect for its members. According to him, it was unfair for the committee to be informing the aspirants of the plans for the election just hours before it was scheduled to commence.
The committee had invited the aspirants for briefing at about 9 pm on Sunday 19th July, 2020 on an election scheduled to commence in the morning of Monday, the following day. Kekemeke observed that, “Prior to the meeting, the aspirants were not informed of the venue of the election, neither were they given the list of delegates. At first we heard that voting would take place at each ward with ward executive committee members as voters. Even then, some said the voters would comprise all the 26 members of the committee while others said only the 12 principal officers would vote. As to the venue, rumours had it that voting would be at the ward level with all the 203 ward centres as venues Later on, we heard that voting will be at the 18 local government headquarters. Towards yesterday evening, the rumour was that the whole thing would take place in Akure at the Dome, the government-owned international conference centre, beginning at 8 am. That was the situation when we honoured the invitation of the committee for a meeting for the first time last night.
“Worse still, we did not know the composition of the delegates. Aspirants were expected to be given the list of delegates well in advance of the election to enable them scrutinize it for authenticity and use it to identify and reach out to the delegates. The conduct of election for school prefects could not have been handled with so much levity and disdain for aspirants.
“The whole thing started with the screening of aspirants. The committee refused to release its report and thus allowed the whole place to be filled with rumours as to who eas disqualified. And it took almost two weeks before we heard anything again when the appeal committee was reported to have approved all the twelve aspirants. Then we had to wait and wait before being informed of the mode of election whether direct or indirect. How do you prepare for an election under such uncertainties?”
Continuing, Kekemeke said, “We certainly need to reform this party. As founding members, we must work within it to make it better, to make it respect its members, to make it know that it needs its members more than its members need it. Certainly, things cannot continue like this.”
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