Ondo 2024: We will protest until Ondo REC is removed, says Makinde

The leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest and Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has said the party would continue to protest until the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Babalola Oluwatoyin, is removed.

The governor spoke in Akure at the flag-off of the PDP campaign ahead of next month’s governorship election.

The rally was held along the busy Oba Adesida-Oyemekun road as the party was denied use of the Democracy Park.

Party supporters and a huge crowd blocked the busy highway. Traffic was diverted to other connecting streets.

Makinde said the party was not afraid of a fair contest, but needed a REC that is not from Ondo State.

He said: “I have a message for INEC national Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu. You must remove Ondo REC. She is from Ondo State. Her family lives here. We will continue to protest until she is removed.”

He urged PDP members to go out and woo voters for the party.

A former Governor of Ebonyi State, Sam Egwu, said last month’s governorship election in Edo State was a fraud.

Egwu, who represented the PDP Board of Trustee Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, said the party would not allow a repeat of what happened in Edo State.

He called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure a free and fair election in Ondo State.

The Chairman of PDP Governor’s Forum, Bala Mohammed, said the party would not allow the country to become a one-party state as well as condone injustice.

Muhammed urged party supporters not to allow anybody to deceive them to create problems in the party. He urged them not to sleep until Agboola emerged as governor.

He added: “The party is one. There is no faction, no division. Nobody should deceive you to create a problem. We want change in this country.”

National Chairman of the party, Ambassador Iliya Umar Damagun, said the Ondo governorship poll was a time to pay the APC back in its coin.

Ambassador Damagun told Ondo people that next month’s poll was an opportunity to change the narrative and change hunger.

The acting national chairman who expressed optimism about victory at the polls said the party’s candidate, Agboola Ajayi, would deliver dividends of democracy.

Ajayi, who declared that ‘I have a wife’, said the state does not need any crisis.

He insisted the Ondo REC must be removed. His words: “Ondo REC must leave Ondo. She cannot be fair. We do not want crisis.”