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A member of the National Assembly, representing Osun East Senatorial District, Senator Babajide Omoworare, has been declared the winner of the rerun of the All Progressives Congress senatorial primary for the zone.
The rerun held on Wednesday in Ijebu-Jesa between Omoworare and Alhaji Sola Lawal following the controversies that trailed the emergence of Omoworare at the purported primary that held at Government House Osogbo, where Lawal claimed to have secured 17 out of the 23 votes cast by leaders from the senatorial district.
Lawal, who is the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Ogun State, has however kicked against the method adopted by the party in the rerun, alleging that the delegates were teleguided and coerced into voting for his opponent, wondering why journalists were locked out of the venue of the exercise.
The Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the APC in Osun State, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, announced in a statement made in Osogbo on Wednesday that Omoworare scored 2,193 votes out of 2,305 delegates to defeat Lawal, who polled 49 votes.
Oyatomi said, “A fresh primary election yesterday(Wednesday) reconfirmed the choice of Senator Babajide Omoworare as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the next February’s National Assembly election in Osun East Senatorial District.
“Omoworare, the incumbent Senator, defeated his only rival, Mr Sola Lawal, in an open, transparent primary, which took place at Ijebu-Jesa in Oriade Local Government Area of the state.
“Omoworare polled 2,193 votes to beat Lawal with 49 votes in the election that was performed by 2,305 delegates, drawn from 95 wards in the senatorial district except Ife Central, where both contestants hail from.”
Lawal, in a statement, rejected the outcome of the election, saying it should be thrown into the dust bin because the process used for the conduct of the poll was questionable.
He alleged that delegates were coerced to drop their ballots papers into the box bearing the picture of Omoworare.
The Ogun APC spokesman argued that the party’s constitution prescribed open secret ballot, which was used in the presidential primary of the party in Lagos covered by journalists from all over the world.
He contended that the party deviated from the provision of the APC constitution and also chased away journalists who were there to cover the poll.
The statement read, ” The sham congress was an unmitigated travesty of democracy and flamboyant assault on representative governance. It should be consigned to the trash can.
“No comedy can be more denigrating than putting two ballot boxes, marked out by posters of contestants, before delegates who were coerced to drop ballot papers in the box of preferred candidate of the governor.
“The APC constitution prescribes open secret method, which was strictly adopted at the Lagos presidential primary in the full glare of world press. The whole world knows that no box was labelled in Lagos. It is sad that the exercise has exposed strategic deficit of the system in the 21st century.
“If the authorities had nothing to hide, why were pressmen not allowed into the hall. What democratic norm supports labelling of ballot boxes with posters of aspirants? Why was ballot papers counted without considering whose votes they contained?”
Omoworare, who spoke to our correspondent through his media aide, Mr. Tunde Dairo, said he would soon respond comprehensively to Lawal’s position.
