A member of the House of Representatives, Femi Bamisile, on Friday, defeated Bumi Adenuga, the candidate of governor Kayode Fayemi, in the All Progressives Congress (APC) contest for the ticket of Ekiti South Constituency II.
Bumi Adenuga is a serving member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly representing Emure Constituency.
She reportedly had the backing of the state governor, Kayode Fayemi, in her bid to unseat the ranking member of the House.
Mr Bamisile contested the last governorship primaries which produced Biodun Oyebanji, the current candidate of the APC for the June 18 governorship election in the state.
He had fallen out of favour with the state governor after the primaries, for which Ms Adenuga was prompted to replace him.
A total of 160 delegates filed out for the election at the Ode-Ekiti Civic Centre, for the primary election which lasted about three hours.
The Returning Officer, Kunle Ajayi, said all 160 delegates voted for Mr Bamisile, while Ms Adenuga recorded zero votes.
Ms Adenuga, who walked out of the venue of the election when voting got underway, complained that the arrangement for the primary election was not satisfactory.
She told reporters that her agents were not allowed to stay on the podium where delegates were being guided in the process, but only her opponents were allowed.
“I don’t know why they refused to allow my agents. They said the delegates could not write and that they were helping them,” she complained.
“I don’t really know what to do at this stage because you know I am not a money bag.”
However, an observer explained that it was an agreement among the parties that agents to the aspirants would be required to go up there and assist those delegates who could not write but indicated they were voting for their aspirants.
He said since no delegate voted for her, there was no need for her agent to go up the podium.
Reacting after the results were declared, Mr Bamisile said the election was free and fair and the results were “overwhelming.”
“What the delegates did this afternoon was totally overwhelming and unfathomable,” he said.
“I was just sitting throughout the election praying that God should not put me to shame.
Now I thank God and everyone for the support and I want to appreciate the person who contested against me, we are all victors in this contest, there are no losers.”
Mr Bamisile said he would now focus on ensuring that the party wins the forthcoming governorship election.