The dust created by the outcome of the primary election of Ondo State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress appears to be spreading beyond proportion, with Senator Jimoh Ibrahim threatening to rock the boat if the candidacy of Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa is not nullified.
The multi billionaire senator who represents the State’s South Senatorial district at the Senate is one of the 16 aspirants who contested the April 20th primary election to fly the ruling party’s flag in the November 16th governorship poll in the state.
Presided over by the Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo as committee chairman, the election produced Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa who polled 48,569 votes to beat the other 15 aspirants to the ticket. Jimoh Ibrahim emerged as the third runner-up after scoring 9456 votes to come behind Olusola Oke and Mayowa Akinfolarin who both garnered 14,915 and 15,343 votes respectively.
While the majority of the aspirants have accepted the outcome and agreed to throw their weight behind the party’s candidate ahead of the highly anticipated governorship poll, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim is bent on the nullification of the result to give room for a fresh APC primary in the state.
Legal option
He had a week ago approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to nullify the election based on irregularities that marred the conduct of the primary.
In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/588/2024, the senator alleged that the emergence of Governor Aiyedatiwa as the party’s flag bearer was unlawful, noting that Sections 221, and 228 of the 1999 Constitution and 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 were grossly violated in the conduct of the internal election.
According to him, some delegates who could have voted for him at the primary election were not accredited to vote thereby, making the primary election liable to be set aside and nullified.
Ibrahim prayed the court to bar the Independent National Electoral Commission from accepting Aiyedatiwa as the APC governorship candidate in the November 16 gubernatorial election in the state. He also sought an order of perpetual injunction prohibiting Aiyedatiwa from holding himself out or parading himself as the APC governorship candidate.
From his point of view, the party is yet to produce a candidate for the forthcoming guber poll regardless of the presentation of certificate of return to the governor, confirmation by the electoral body and litany of congratulatory messages that have been pouring in for the Aiyedatiwa since his declaration as the party’s standard bearer.
While the opposition party has already hit the ground running and started putting in place viable strategies that will ensure victory in the forthcoming poll, the governing party in Ondo state is faced with the threat of possible implosion if Jimoh Ibrahim does not eventually have his way through the court of law.
Although Aiyedatiwa had extended an olive branch to Ibrahim and other leaders of the party who were not satisfied with the outcome of the primary election, it is obvious that Ibrahim is not one of those ready to sheath his sword and ready for reconciliation. Despite coming a distant fourth in the election, he is of the opinion that his mandate was stolen.
According to several political observers in the state, it is not certain that the popular businessman will be part of those who will mount the podium and canvass for Aiyedatiwa by the time the electioneering activities get underway later in the year. It is either he gets the election nullified through the court or he pitches his tent with another political party. He seems ready to take his pound of flesh and rock the boat.
The spoiler
This is however not the first time Senator Ibrahim will be aggrieved over a primary election result in Ondo State and consequently played the role of spoiler for his party.
In 2016, he contested for primary election under the Ali Modu Sheriff-led People’s Democratic Party and emerged as a factional candidate against Eyitayo Jegede who won the primary conducted by the Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi-led faction.
The case which lingered in court for several months denied Jegede the opportunity of touring the 18 local governments of the state to canvass for votes from the electorate. After months of legal tussle, it was ruled by the Appeal Court that Jegede was the authentic candidate of the party barely 48 hours into the poll.
On the eve of the election, Jimoh Ibrahim publicly ordered his loyalists to cast their votes for Rotimi Akeredolu who was the APC governorship candidate for the election.
Many however believe that Ibrahim’s decision to play the role of spoiler cost PDP the election and consequently facilitated the victory of Aketi in 2016.
Considering the scenario currently playing out, Political analysts foresee the 2016 incident repeating itself in APC if the party leaders at the national level do not quickly rise up to the occasion by prevailing on Jimoh Ibrahim to accept the outcome of the primary and work the party’s candidate ahead of the election.
While he may end up not contesting the governorship election, the senator may orchestrate an unprecedented implosion within the party that may rock the boat before the D-Day if nothing is done to quickly arrest the ugly trend.
