The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has rejected allegations that a non-indigene emerged as the party’s candidate during its House of Representatives primary elections.
The party’s Publicity Secretary in the state, Segun Dipe, clarified the issue in a statement released on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti.
Dipe described the reports as false and misleading, warning that they could trigger unnecessary ethnic tension in the state.
He stated that no individual from another ethnic background contested or won the party’s primary election in any of Ekiti’s six federal constituencies.
“The APC, Ekiti State Chapter, did not announce any candidate named Zaccheus Okoro for any federal constituency, as is being falsely circulated in some quarters,” he said.
According to Dipe, political representation in the state has always focused on issues and development rather than ethnic identity.
He urged members of the public to ignore the reports, describing them as propaganda intended to weaken confidence in the party’s primary election process.
In the same vein, the campaign directorate of the APC House of Representatives candidate for Ise/Orun, Ikere, and Ekiti South West Federal Constituency I, Toyin Okoro, dismissed claims challenging his identity, describing them as mischievous ethnic blackmail allegedly orchestrated by political opponents.
The campaign organisation insisted that Okoro is a genuine indigene of Ise-Ekiti in Ise/Orun Local Government Area of the state.
It also called on the public to disregard what it termed “cheap ethnic propaganda.”
