Akinjide Kazeem Akinola, an aspirant for the Egbeda/Ona Ara seat of the House of Representatives, has withdrawn from the race.
Egbeda/Ona-Ara Federal Constituency Contest: Withdrawal of Hon. Akinjide Kazeem Akinola Over Fraud, Manipulation of Delegate List
Fellow compatriots, Party faithful, leaders of our great Party, All Progressives Congress (APC), my frabjous supporters and members of the press. It has become imperative that I, Hon. Akinjide Kazeem Akinola (Rtd) withdraw my desire to aspire for the Egbeda/Ona-Ara Federal Constituency seat come 2023 under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This decision painfully becomes necessary following the irregularities that have continued to trail the execution of the Constituency primaries that our great Party, All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed to organise.
As a frontliner in the race for the seat of Egbeda/Ona-Ara Federal Constituency, we have come this far, showing and displaying commonsense politics with philosophical calmness. We expected that the APC as a progressive party would allow for level playing field for all aspirants but that was not to play out.
In the cause of events in the past few days, it was evident there were elements within people saddled with the responsibility to conduct the primaries but who had ulterior motives and vested interests. And obviously, these elements would stop at nothing to subvert the wishes of the people. The disposition of people at the State level has been antithetical to democratic tenets.
Contrary to Party faithful and delegates’ expectations, the Party failed repeatedly to make use of the original delegate list from the National Secretariat of All Progressives Congress (APC). Rather, at the many attempts, the Party came up with doctored delegate list which was persistently resisted by our team.
In the light of the above overt shenanigans and hanky-panky by those with vested interest, it has become evident that the Party is not prepared for victory in the general elections of 2023. I have therefore, after due consultation with my leaders as well as my teeming supporters decided to withdraw from the race. I will be communicating my next action plan in the next few days to my supporters both at home in Nigeria and in the diaspora.
Thank you.
Hon. Akinjide Kazeem Akinola (Rtd)
