Tension erupted at the Ondo State Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress in Akure on Sunday evening as suspected political thugs disrupted the announcement of the remaining results of the party’s House of Representatives primaries conducted across the state.
The chaos reportedly forced members of the National Assembly Election Committee, journalists and party officials to flee the venue for safety.
The APC had conducted primaries on Saturday across the nine federal constituencies in the state, with results from only three constituencies announced before the process was abruptly stalled.
Among those earlier declared winners were Hon. Omowunmi Olatunji, who emerged victorious in the Akure North/Akure South Federal Constituency with 9,237 votes; Dr Olumuyiwa Daramola, who secured the Okitipupa/Irele ticket after polling 6,547 votes; and the incumbent lawmaker representing Ondo East/Ondo West Federal Constituency, Dr Abiola Makinde, who reportedly scored 10,847 votes.
However, results from Akoko North East/North West, Akoko South East/South West, Owo/Ose, Idanre/Ifedore, Ilaje/Ese-Odo and Odigbo/Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo federal constituencies were yet to be officially declared as of Sunday night.
Sources at the party secretariat said members of the election committee had been out of public view since Saturday night before resurfacing around 7pm on Sunday to continue the announcement process.
Trouble reportedly started shortly after the Chairman of the National Assembly Election Committee, Hon. Iboroma Harry Dabibi, and other committee members arrived at the secretariat.
Eyewitnesses alleged that one of the disqualified aspirants from Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency stormed the venue alongside suspected thugs to halt the exercise.
The situation was said to have worsened after a telephone conversation allegedly involving a senior female government official, who reportedly advised the state leadership of the party to suspend the declaration of results pending the resolution of disputes surrounding the screening of some aspirants in Owo/Ose and Idanre/Ifedore federal constituencies.
The development threw the venue into confusion as the suspected thugs allegedly chased out party officials, journalists and committee members despite the presence of security personnel at the secretariat.
Some committee members were overheard expressing fears over their safety, insisting they could not continue the exercise under such tense conditions.
The committee subsequently left the venue, while journalists and other attendees scampered for safety to avoid possible attacks.
As of the time of filing this report, the APC had yet to officially announce the outstanding results from the six affected federal constituencies.
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