The Chairmen of the 18 Local Government in Ondo State have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene in the dispute over the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) appeal committee, which overturned the results of the primaries held in various constituencies of the state.
The Chairmen, under the auspices of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), said the president’s intervention would calm aggrieved members of the party, who have been protesting against the appeal committee’s decision to give automatic tickets to two Senators and six House of Representatives members.
The state Chairman of ALGON, Dr Gbenga Fasua, said the chairmen, who are the Chief Security Officers of their respective council areas, did not witness violence or malpractice that warranted the overturning of the primaries that produced the initial winners.
Addressing a press conference at the NUJ Press Centre, Fasua, who was flanked by other chairmen of the local governments, said the primary elections supervised by them were free, fair and credible.
He said there was no reason to change the decision of the majority of the party members.
According to him, the primary elections conducted between May 16 and 23, 2026, were supervised by duly constituted electoral committees and produced candidates through a transparent and credible process.
He said the local government chairmen were concerned by reports that names different from those that emerged from the primaries later surfaced as candidates for some positions.
Fasua stressed that the chairmen were not challenging the authorities of the party leadership but were seeking a review based on the results announced during the elections.
The local government chairmen reaffirmed their loyalty to the APC and called on members to remain united while awaiting the party’s final decision on the matter.
His words, “If the National Working Committee fails to agree with our position, we are not making a protest. We want that to be clear. We are appealing to the National Working Committee.
“We are not making any protest. Whatever the party decision, the party decision is supreme. We abide by the party decision. We are party lovers, and we abide by the decision of the party.”
The ALGON chairman explained that the local government chairmen had firsthand knowledge of the primary elections because they monitored the process across the state.
Fasua said, “We are not here to make a protest. We are pleading. As chief security officers of these 18 local governments where the elections took place, we were there. We monitored, and we had the results that were announced.”
He noted that their intervention was informed by a desire to protect the credibility of the electoral process and the confidence of party members who participated in the primaries.
His words, “On behalf of our people that we lead, that is our stand—to appeal. What we are trying to do is, based on the election that was conducted here, to uphold the decision of the election conducted here. We stand by both the primary conducted here and the decision which was the outcome. That’s our position.”
The chairmen, in a letter addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, commended his commitment to democratic values and also praised Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for his leadership in maintaining peace and unity in the state.
