Five aspirants have obtained the All Progressives Congress (APC) forms to contest the only ticket for the Ondo East/ West Federal Constituency of Ondo State.
The aspirants included the incumbent, Hon Abiola Makinde who has spent two terms in the National Assembly, others included Dr Jibayo Adeyeye, Hon. Ade Adeniyi, Hon Bola Fisayo, and Dr Michael Ajilo.
The obtaining of the form has defeated the consensus arrangement that has chosen Makinde as the House of Representatives candidate of APC in the 2027 elections.
Consequently, the other four aspirants rejected the adoption of Hon Abiola Makinde as the party’s Consensus Candidate to enable him to re-contest for the third term.
The aspirants described the political move as an imposition that cannot be accepted by them.
They called on the party’s leadership to conduct a free and fair direct primary to choose a candidate for the federal constituency.
The aspirants told journalists after their joint meeting in Ondo in Ondo West Local Government Area of the state that all of them have obtained nomination and expression of interest forms, signalling that they are fully prepared for the direct primary as stipulated in the laws.
The Aspirants insisted that they were never part of any consensus arrangement leading to the endorsement of any candidate for our federal constituency, hence their total rejection, and called for a Direct primary.
The communique jointly signed by the aspirants read: “We the undersigned aspirants of the APC for the position of member of the House of Representatives (MHR) Ondo East/West Federal Constituency, (Hon Ade Adeniyi, Otunba Bola Fisayo, Dr Michael Ajilo, and Hon Jibayo Adeyeye), following our quest to serve our community in representative capacity, state as follows:
“That we are members of the APC. We have all obtained the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to contest the forthcoming primary Election of our party. We are not part of any consensus arrangements leading to the endorsement of any candidate for our federal constituency.
“We are aware of the yearnings and aspirations of our constituents concerning the fielding of credible candidates to represent us at the National Assembly. We are also aware that the issue of poor representation is a topical issue in the Ondo kingdom for which our constituents are greatly affected.
“That we have offered ourselves as credible alternatives in the APC. We are discussing amongst ourselves and will come up with a consensus in due course. That we release this communique to reassure our constituents that help and indeed renewed hope is on the way.”
