By Law Ibitoye
Former Senator Ayo Arise has rejected the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Assembly primary for Ekiti North Senatorial District, alleging widespread manipulation, vote fabrication and deliberate disruption of the electoral process across several wards in the district.
Addressing journalists in Oye-Ekiti on Tuesday, Arise insisted that he won the primary election based on results collated at the ward level, contrary to the figures announced by the party’s electoral committee.
Arise claimed that results from 33 wards where voting and counting were completed showed he secured 8,687 votes against Fasuyi’s 7,755 votes contrary the results announced by Asipa WASIU , the returning officer declared the incumbent senator, Senator Cyril Fasuyi, winner of the primary with 14,179 votes, while Arise polled 4,868 votes.
According to Arise, the total votes cast in the 33 wards stood at 18,051, representing a turnout of 64.3 per cent. He further alleged that officials abandoned the exercise midway in 12 wards after discovering he was leading, while electoral officials failed to appear entirely in another 10 wards, thereby disenfranchising more than 6,000 registered party members.
Arise described the incidents as a deliberate strategy to manipulate the outcome of the primary election. He accused the electoral committee of slashing his votes from 8,687 to 4,868 while allegedly inflating Fasuyi’s tally from 7,755 to 14,179 votes.
“This is not a recount. This is a fabrication,” Arise said.
The lawmaker maintained that the declared result did not reflect the actual outcome of the exercise and warned that there would be consequences if the alleged irregularities were not addressed.
He called on the national leadership of the APC to intervene and correct what he described as a grave abuse of the democratic process.
According to him, the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act provide mechanisms for addressing the alleged irregularities and restoring credibility to the process.
The senator said he had contributed immensely to the growth and advancement of Nigeria in several ways, adding that he is a patriotic Nigerian who wants elections done in the modern way.
He suggested an open secret ballot in future party primaries , adding that candidates who can lift the masses out of their predicaments should be allowed to fly the ticket of the party .
Speaking in the same vein, the former president of Ilupeju Development Association, (IDA) Mr Mike OSATUYI corroborated the manipulation that happened during the primary, he called on the national leaders of All Progressive Congress and president Tinubu to restore the victory of Senator Arise at the poll.
Mr OSATUYI called on the party leader to adopt modest ways of conducting primary, saying for fair and credible primary elections, party members should not be used as returning officers for conducting elections.
