On Sunday night, suspected political thugs stormed the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, causing party members and officials to flee as results from Saturday's House of Representatives primaries were being announced. The invasion occurred at the party's secretariat in Akure, the state capital, while the election committee was preparing to declare winners. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as party loyalists, journalists, and committee members scrambled to exit the premises.
Chaos Triggered by Alleged Directive
According to party insiders, the chaos began when a directive was allegedly issued to halt the proceedings via a telephone call to a member of the primary committee. The thugs were reportedly led by an aspirant loyal to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who had been disqualified from contesting the primary. This aspirant was among seven candidates earlier disqualified by the party.
A party source who witnessed the incident alleged, "A disqualified aspirant mobilized some thugs to the venue, and the atmosphere became tense. People hurriedly left because nobody wanted the situation to get out of hand. I was live on Facebook when the announcement started. They were about to call the federal constituency results when the aspirant came and said somebody was on the phone directing that the process should be stopped. We all thought it was the governor, but later realized it was coming from a top cabinet member in the state."
Party Response and Appeal Committee
Prior to the chaos, the state chapter of the party had moved to address grievances arising from the disputed exercise. In a statement issued by the party's State Secretary, Alex Kalejaye, the party announced the constitution of a Primary Appeal Committee to entertain complaints from aggrieved aspirants. The statement read, "The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State wishes to inform the general public, and indeed House of Representatives aspirants, who are displeased with the primary process thus far, that the Primary Appeal Committee will be ready to entertain complaints today at the State Secretariat."
Partial Results Declared
Earlier, some results had purportedly been declared. Omowunmi Olatunji was announced as the winner of the Akure South/Akure North Federal Constituency primary with 9,237 votes. Olumuyiwa Daramola secured the Okitipupa/Irele ticket after polling 6,547 votes, while the incumbent, second-term lawmaker representing the Ondo East/Ondo West Federal Constituency, Abiola Makinde, clinched victory with 10,847 votes. However, results for six other federal constituencies—Akoko North-East/North-West, Akoko South-West/South-East, Owo/Ose, Idanre/Ifedore, Ilaje/Ese-Odo, and Odigbo/Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo—remain unannounced as of press time. The whereabouts of some committee members have been unknown since Sunday night, particularly the secretary of the committee, preventing the announcement of the remaining results.
