Protest In Ekiti ACN Over Imposition of Candidates For Local Government Elections

Again, members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ekiti State, have taken to the streets to protest what they said was the imposition of candidates in the coming local government elections in the state.

Members of the party from Ekiti East Local Government Area of the state, on Monday, stormed the secretariat of the ACN in Ado- Ekiti to protest against alleged imposition of a former member of the state House of Assembly, Mr Rotimi Ajidara, as the chairmanship candidate of the party in the counccil area.

The protesters called on Governor Kayode Fayemi and the chairman of the party in the state, Chief Jide Awe, to avert the danger of losing the local government in the January 21, 2012 election by adopting Mr Kayode Idiowo as their candidate. Idiowo, while speaking on the development, threatened court action over the party's decision "if  it fails to respect the zoning formula in Omuo-Ekiti and the mandate given to him."

The protesters called Ajidara names, saying he did not represent the constituency well while he was a member of the legislature. The spokesman of the protesters, Mr Femi Jegede, who said he is the secretary of Ward eight in the local government, said that they were not satisfied with the fact that Ajidara had been claiming that he was the anointed candidate in the election.

Jegede said it was the turn of either ward eight or ward six to produce the candidate for the office of the chairman, saying this would ensure victory for the ACN in the elections.

He also claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had already respected the zoning formula in the area by picking somebody from ward eight.

Idiowo, who said that the party must respect the zoning formula in Omuo-Ekiti noted that, the party's mandate he jointly owned with  Chief Wale Akinlabi still subsisted, predicating his assertion on the Supreme Court ruling on the case of Governor Rotimi Amechi VS Celestine Omehia. Idiowo hinted that Akinlabi had relinquished the mandate to him as the vice-chairmanship candidate in the primary conducted in 2008, where the party had abstained from the local government election conducted by the ousted Governor Segun Oni due to shoddy composition of the state electoral body.

He urged the party to learn from the loss suffered in the House of Assembly election in Ekiti East Constituency 2, where Honourable Dele Ajibola had defeated the incumbent caretaker chairman, Miss Anthonia Omonusi, due to imposition. "I am from ward eight, while Ajidara is from ward nine that had produced a chairman in the past. As I am talking to you, Omuo-Ekiti is pregnant with revolutionary annoyance and we will not allow them to deliver because it will not augur well for the town and our party.

"As a loyal party man, I cannot challenge the supremacy of  the party or work against its interest, but the party must be seen to be fair, just and maintain equity in this issue,"Idiowo said.