By YINUSA ISHOLA

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Ekiti South Federal Constituency I, Engr. Toyin Okoro, has advised the incumbent lawmaker, AVM Rufus Ojuawo (Rtd), to halt a relentless campaign of calumny aimed at discrediting his projected successor.

In a statement issued on Friday and signed by Yomi Abegunde, Director of Media, Strategy, and Publicity for the Toyin Okoro Campaign Council, the candidate urged the retired military officer to gracefully accept his defeat at the party’s primary election.

The campaign council was reacting to circulating allegations that Okoro was recently grilled by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over an alleged contract fraud in Ekiti.

Dismissing the report, the council clarified that an invitation to clarify issues is a routine administrative procedure in Nigeria, emphasising that it does not in any way translate to an indictment, guilt, or a criminal conviction.

The statement accused Ojuawo of being the mastermind behind the petition, alleging that the move was intentionally timed to embarrass and distract Okoro simply because the incumbent lost his bid to return to the parliament.

According to the council, Okoro voluntarily honoured the anti-graft agency’s invitation as a law-abiding citizen and public servant who possesses zero record of fraudulent activity or criminal history throughout his career.

The campaign team further stressed that Okoro is a highly respected, registered professional engineer, who had served the nation meritoriously without ever being arrested, charged, or found wanting by any regulatory authority.

The council revealed that Ojuawo’s opposition began long before the primaries when he unsuccessfully petitioned the APC Screening Committee to disqualify Okoro, a request that was dismissed for total lack of merit.

Additionally, the statement noted that the incumbent sponsored another failed grievance challenging Okoro’s indigeneship as a bona fide native of Ise-Ekiti, despite the candidate’s ancestral roots being well-documented and incontestable.

Having failed to stop Okoro within the internal party structures, Ojuawo has reportedly approached the court to contest the primary results, while concurrently weaponising the ICPC through the fresh petition.

The campaign council, therefore, urged APC supporters across Ikere, Ekiti South-West, and Ise/Orun Local Governments to ignore the distractions, while calling on the Inspector-General of Police and the DSS to ensure Okoro’s safety. (NAN)