By IDOWU ARIWODOLA

Some All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Ekiti have petitioned the party’s Governorship Screening Committee, urging it to disqualify a governorship aspirant, Kayode Ojo, from the forthcoming 2025 primaries holding next month.

This is contained in a petition, filed on Wednesday, copies of which were made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti by some key APC members in the state.

Those who signed the petition included: Mr Jogunola Joel Tolani of Ayetoro Ward 2, Ido/Osi Local Government, Mr Alake Busuyi of Aisegba Ward 8, Aiyekire/Gbonyi Local Government and Mr Tayo Ogunlusi, from Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government.

They said, the petition was written on behalf of more than 50 other concerned party members, who also endorsed the petition.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the petitioners, alleged that Ojo’s nomination form, contained several irregularities.

According to them, a review by their lawyers, revealed the following discrepancies:

“Out of the 122 names, listed as nominators of Ojo, 68 are not valid APC members in Ekiti and only 54 valid nominators were confirmed, falling short of the required 80.’’

Accordingly, they said that Ojo failed to meet the mandatory spread of at least five nominators from each local government, as stipulated in the party’s guidelines.

The petitioners also alleged that in spite these lapses, Ojo declared full compliance, which they described as both “deceitful” and “misleading”.

They stressed that such actions, ordinarily undermined the APC’s values of honesty, transparency, and integrity.

They, therefore, called on the screening committee, to uphold the party’s constitution and guidelines, by ensuring that only aspirants who meet all requirements are cleared.

“The integrity of our party’s selection process must not be compromised. We trust the screening committee to demonstrate courage and fairness in its decision,” they said.

The petitioners further urged APC members and the public to remain vigilant, in order to prevent any breach of party rules, ahead of the 2025 governorship primary, coming up shortly.

Reacting to the petition, Alhaji Deji Ayelabowo, a top veteran journalist and spokesperson for Kayode Ojo, said that those petitioners are jesters and desperate people.

He said that nobody can use any tactics to stop Kayode Ojo from contesting the Ekiti 2026 governorship election. (NAN)