PDP urges Buhari to probe funds spent on Ondo APC governorship primary


Akure- The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the sources of the funds spent by All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirants to induce delegates at last Saturday’s gubernatorial primary poll of the party.
The call was made in a press statement issued on Wednesday in Akure, the State capital. Signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Banji Okuomo, the PDP statement also described the APC gubernatorial primaries as lacking credibility.
The PDP, the ruling party in the state, said the fact that the APC primaries featured over 20 aspirants and numerous godfathers made it difficult for the party to settle for an acceptable candidate and pointed to the rejection of the outcome by aspirants as further evidence of lack of credibility.
According to the PDP, the APC aspirants must have spent about N5 billion on the election. This, he blamed on their desperation for power. It similarly accused APC aspirants of corruption, saying the use of cash to entice delegates was a shameful conduct by a party claiming to be fighting corruption.
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“Aside from the ungodly act and fetish tendencies exhibited to the fullest glare of the public by APC members in the attempt to seal off the party secretariat in the State capital prior to the primary, the naira rain involving virtually all the aspirants was also ridiculous and uncalled for.
“It was gathered that the aspirants were involved in a cash bazaar to induce the delegates at the election, an act that is unprecedented in the history of party primaries in Ondo State,” said Mr. Okuomo.

He criticized APC aspirants for lodging delegates in different hotels, saying it was a way of influencing their decisions and that such would have an adverse implication for the economy of the state.
“It is the height of indiscipline and avarice in any political party that 25 aspirants would want to clinch a position that is meant for just one person.
“Where then does the credibility of the APC primary lie when it displayed this level of corruption, even though it has continuously paraded itself as the political party fighting corruption?” the PDP spokesman queried.
The PDP further asked APC members to apologize to the people of the State for criticizing the International Event Centre (DOME), which the party eventually used as the venue for its primaries.