The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday conducted peaceful senatorial primaries across the state’s three senatorial districts.
The exercise took place in Oyo South, which comprises nine local government areas; Oyo Central with 11 local governments; and Oyo North with 13 local governments.
Monitoring the exercise in Oyo Federal Constituency, which covers Atiba, Oyo East, Oyo West and Afijio local governments, our correspondent observed that party faithful trooped to designated voting centres as early as 7 a.m.
While some local governments commenced the primaries in the early hours of Monday, others delayed the exercise until about 3 p.m. to avoid disrupting academic activities in schools used as voting venues.
Early reports indicated that the exercise was largely peaceful across the state.
Serving Senator Yunus Akintunde participated in the Oyo Central senatorial primary and was accredited alongside hundreds of supporters at Ward 10 in Oyo West Local Government Area.
Similarly, reports from Oyo South and Oyo North senatorial districts showed that the primaries were conducted without major incidents.
Speaking earlier on Saturday, Chairman of the APC National Assembly Primaries Elections Committee for Oyo State, Prof. Mojeed Alabi, described the House of Representatives primaries conducted across the state as peaceful and rancour-free.
Addressing journalists at the Oyo APC Secretariat in Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Alabi, a former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, said the committee was saddled with the responsibility of supervising the conduct of the party primaries across the 14 federal constituencies in the state.
He explained that the primaries were conducted at ward levels across the constituencies to ensure broad participation by party members.
“Our duty is to supervise, collate results, ensure that everything is properly done, and forward our report to the national leadership of the party,” he said.
“It is the national executive of the party that has the final authority to announce the outcome of the elections.
“From what we have seen so far, there is no rancour anywhere. Our committee is aware that our activities are also being monitored, so we cannot afford to disappoint the party or the country.
“We will continue to do our best to ensure transparency and fairness to all aspirants without fear or favour, affection or ill will, so that at the end of the exercise, the collective interest of the party will be protected.”
