Ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State, Vice President Kashim Shettima, alongside governors from the All Progressives Congress (APC), the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, and other APC leaders, will lead a major rally in support of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s re-election bid. The rally is scheduled to take place today, Wednesday, at the MKO Abiola Democracy Park in Akure, Ondo State, starting from 10 am.
A total of 17 political parties are set to contest the upcoming election. According to the list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the parties cleared to participate include the ruling APC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Accord Party, Action Alliance, African Action Congress, African Democratic Congress, African Democratic Party, and All Progressives Grand Alliance. Other parties on the list are the Allied Peoples Movement, Action Peoples Party, Labour Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, National Rescue Movement, Peoples Redemption Party, Social Democratic Party, Youth Party, Young Progressives Party, and Zenith Labour Party.
As election campaigns heat up, the APC and PDP have once again clashed over accusations of electoral malpractices. On Tuesday, the PDP accused the APC of plotting to rig the election by influencing the selection of presiding officers for the election. According to a statement from the PDP’s Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Peretei, the APC allegedly submitted a list of party members to INEC to be appointed as presiding officers and assistant presiding officers in various polling units, even though these individuals had not attended the required training for the role.
The PDP warned that the APC was attempting to manipulate the election, accusing the party of prioritizing election rigging over delivering good governance to the people of Ondo State.
In response, APC’s Publicity Secretary, Alex Kalejaiye, dismissed the PDP’s claims as baseless and false. Kalejaiye emphasized that the APC had no intention of compromising the election and pointed out that Governor Aiyedatiwa remains widely popular among the people of Ondo State.
