Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro has been accused of substituting the name of the winner of the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Lawal Aruna in Ilara Mokin ward I, Ifedore local government area of the state.
Hon Lawal Aruna is currently the supervisor representing Ilara ward I in the council.
Following the alleged substitution of his name, Mr Aruna on Saturday alongside some party members reportedly conducted a peaceful protest against the development at the private clinic of Dr Adegbenro in Akure the state capital.
It was however gathered that Dr Adegbenro invited the men of the Nigerian Police, A division in Akure who arrested Mr Aruna alongside other protesting members of the APC from Ilara ward I.
Some of the party members in a statement made available to our correspondent in Akure said they were at Dr Adegbenro’s clinic to protest the substitution of Aruna Lawal to Mr Akin Oluyi as the Ilara ward I Councillor candidate.
According to them, “three aspirants contested for the position of Councillor in Ilara ward I under APC. The aspirants were Aruna Lawal, Akin Oluyi and Ropo Olofindahunsi.
“After the failure to reach a consensus the state chairman of APC set up electoral primary committee headed by Hon Atiba to conduct primary. The Atiba committee conducted the primary in the presence of Ifedore Electoral Officer and his teams and the security agencies.
“The result showed that Aruna Lawal scored 230, Akin Oluyi 0 and Ropo Olofindahunsi 0.
“The result was submitted to APC state secretariat. However Dr Adegbenro went to bribe APC state chairman, Engr Ade Adetimehin to substitute Lawal Aruna name to Akin Oluyi that scored zero in the primary.
“The members of APC this morning came to his clinics to show their grievances and Adegbenro ordered for their arrest.
“They were beaten to a coma and many of them sustained injuries. They are currently being detained at A Division police Akure,” the statement read.
All attempts by The Precision NG to put a call to Dr Adegbenro proved abortive as he refused to pick his calls and return the SMS sent to him.
When contacted, the party Chairman, Engr Ade Adetimehin denied any allegation of substitution of names by the party.
He said, “No name has been changed and I want you to note that the primaries we conducted was the most peaceful, free and fair.
“The commissioner for health cannot change any name as he is not the man that conduct the primaries.
Asked if he is aware of the fact that Lawal Aruna’s name has been substituted, he said, “we have 203 wards and how can I know the names of the candidates in all the wards? But from the records that I got, no name has been changed from the results we got from the field,” he said.
The Precision NG also contacted the chairman of the APC in Ifedore local government, Mr Tunde Fawoyi who said the party picked a consensus candidate that was duly signed and submitted by Dr Adegbenro who is the leader of the APC in Ilara Mokin ward I.
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