The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State may not participate in the November 16, 2024 gubernatorial election following a declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that  the party did not conduct governorship primary election on April 20, 2024 in the state.
Reports submitted by INEC electoral officers, who monitored the APC governorship primary election across the 18 local government areas of the state, revealed that there were no elections in the designated Registration Areas.
Reports submitted by individual electoral officers which were received by one Dimas F. Emmanuel, ACLO, INEC headquarters, Abuja, dated April 30, 2024, noted that election materials were not made available at the polling stations.
According to the report, members of the party came out en mass to perform their civic rights but were disappointed as there were no election materials and the election committee which ought to conduct the election did not show up.
In her report, Mrs C. O.Abai, the INEC Electoral Officer, who monitored Ifedore Local Government Area, noted that “The election of All Progressives Congress Governorship Primary was not held in presence due to the unavailability of the election materials to be used and the absence of the Electoral organising committee in all the 10 Registration Areas till Monitoring team left late in the evening.”
Mrs O. O. Owogbo, the INEC Electoral Officer for Akoko South-East Local Government Area, in her report said: “In some of the Wards, the electorates arranged themselves in queues according to the number of contestants with representatives, counted the number of the electorates, but their efforts were rendered inconsequential as there were no election materials deployed for the conduct of the election.”
She gave the statistics of the Wards she wrote her reports on to include Epinmin I and Epinmin II Ifira, Ipe I, Ipe II, Ipesi, Isua I, Isua II, Isua III and Isua IV.
In Ilaje Local Government Area of the state, where the incumbent Governor Aiyedatiwa hails from, Okeniyi Bayo Fatai, the INEC Electoral Officer, who monitored the local government explained that “The party members in the Local Government all converged at the designated venues to exercise their civic responsibilities.
“Although INEC monitors were present in all wards for the assignment, but the event was characterized by non-availability of election materials across the 12 RAs in the LGA.
“In view of the above, Election did not take place in Ilaje LGA and results were not given to the monitors.”
Meanwhile, the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee led by the Governor of Kogi State,  Usman Ododo, nahad declared Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa winner of the party’s primary election purportedly conducted on April 20 and April 21, 2024.
Aiyedatiwa was alleged to have polled 2533 out of 3831 valid votes in Akoko South-East, just as he was also, declared winner of Ilaje, his local government with 2485 out of the 7213 valid votes.
Other 15 governorship aspirants on the platform of APC had cried foul, saying the party’s primary election never held.
None of the other contestants was able to vote for themselves in the purported primary election.