The camp of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State is in disarray as the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has disqualified his seven consensus House of Representatives aspirants, ahead of the party primaries.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, on Saturday, released a statement containing the list of the 14 disqualified aspirants ahead of the primaries.
The APC National Screening Committee screened and disqualified 14 House of Representatives aspirants from Ondo, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Kogi and Rivers states, with Ondo State being the worst hit, followed by Rivers State, while Bauchi, Ebonyi and Kogi states have one casualty each.
The statement, titled “Screened and Disqualified House of Representatives Aspirants”.
It read: “The All Progressives Congress (APC) hereby releases the list of House of Representatives aspirants who participated in the screening exercise but were not cleared to participate in the House of Representatives Primary Election.
“The screening exercise was conducted by the Party’s Screening Committees in line with established procedures and guidelines.”
As contained in the list, the seven consensus aspirants from Ondo State were the highest number of aspirants listed as “Not Cleared” by the party’s National Screening Committee.
Those affected were Hon. Tajudeen Adefisoye of the Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency; Olusegun Victor Ategbole and Seun Oluwashina Ajongbolo for Akoko South-East/South-West Federal Constituency.
Others included Rt. Hon. Arowole Ayodeji Samuel for Owo/Ose; Morufu Tosin Ibrahim, Oseni Oyeniyi and Olaleye John Adedipe for Akoko North-East/North-West Federal Constituency.
The three aspirants not cleared from Rivers State included Air Commodore John Azubuike Opara (rtd)- Port Harcourt; Hon Anderson Allison Igbiki- Okrika/Ogu/Bolo; Awaji Imombek Abirite- Andoni/Opori-Nkoko; and Hon Boma Goodhead- Asari-Toru/Akuku-Toro.
The disqualified aspirants from Bauchi, Ebonyi and Kogi states, included Dr Bashir Ibrahim Bello- Darazo/Ganjuwa; Hon Idu Gariwe- Afikpo-Edda and Sanni Salau Ogembe- Okene/Ogori/Magongo, respectively.
The seven consensus aspirants from Ondo State disqualified by the APC national leadership were said to be the consensus candidates of the governor.
Furthermore, sources disclosed that the exclusion of the seven aspirants from the race has started generating anxiety in the state, mostly among loyalists of Aiyedatiwa.
It was reliably gathered that the affected seven consensus aspirants from the Aiyedatiwa camp have started weighing options available to them for a possible redress.
