APC suspends Ondo governorship candidate and four others

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ode-Aye 1 Ward of Okitipupa Local Government Area of ​​Ondo State has decided to suspend Folake Omogoroye, a governorship candidate in the recent primary election on April 20, 2024.

Naija News reports that Omogoroye joins the ranks of former gubernatorial candidates who faced similar disciplinary action within the party following the suspension of Ondo South Senator Jimoh Ibrahim.

The four officials suspended by the party besides Omogoroye include four district leaders of the party: Ayesan Tunde, Organisation Secretary; Jemiken Seyi, Deputy Public Relations Officer; Adebayo Omobayo, Deputy Social Secretary, and Eweje Omotayo, Deputy Treasurer.

The decision to suspend Omogoroye was communicated in a letter signed by the county APC chairman, Akinsowola Awodele, with the support of 12 other executive members. The letter was made available to the press in the state on Monday evening.

The party noted that Omogoroye was suspended for “anti-party activities and blatant disobedience to the constituent authority of the party.”

The gubernatorial candidate, who claimed there were irregularities in the party, had filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of the party’s gubernatorial primaries, which resulted in Governor Happy Aiyedatiwa to be selected as a candidate.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party (LP) has intervened in the ongoing crisis of its branch in Edo State by sacking the state government led by Kelly Ogaloi.

In response to escalating internal disputes, the party’s national leadership under Julius Abure has appointed a 17-member transition committee chaired by former Speaker of the state House of Representatives Elizabeth Ativie.

This decisive step came after a controversial period marked by the suspension of Julius Abure by the party leaders of Arue-Uromi in Esan North-East Local Government Area on allegations of arrogance and anti-party activities.

The suspension, announced on May 25, 2024, followed a formal notification on May 14 and was ratified on May 15 and subsequently approved by the State Executive Committee in Benin.

Despite these local maneuvers, the national Labour Party federation rejected the legality of the suspension and reiterated that Abure would remain national leader.

In order to stabilise the situation, the national party inaugurated the new transitional committee in a ceremony led by the Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Ayo Olorunfemi.

During the swearing-in ceremony, Dr. Olorunfemi clarified that the restructuring had become necessary due to the expiration of the tenure of the Ogaloi-led executive in April.

He expressed his confidence in Ativie’s abilities, citing her “result-oriented track record” as key to her appointment as state chair.

He called for unity and assured that the transitional committee would lead the party effectively until a new executive committee was elected at the next state parliament.

The change in leadership was supported by several party members, including Esosa Iyawe from Oredo Federal Constituency and Osaro Omoruyi from Egor/Ikpoba Okha Federal Constituency.

Both stressed the importance of unity and strong leadership ahead of the September gubernatorial elections and expressed their support for Olumide Akpata as gubernatorial candidate.

In her acceptance speech, Ativie promised to strengthen the party’s reputation in the state and promised to reconcile all factions within the party to ensure a united front in the upcoming elections.