After due consultations with Edo State APC stakeholders, the NWC has approved direct primaries as the mode of election to be used to produce the governorship candidate of the Party for the state.”
By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has disclosed that it will be adopting direct primary election to select its flag bearer for the September 21, 2024 Edo State governorship polls.
APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Duro Meseko, stated this on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja while briefing journalists about the outcome of a meeting which held between APC National Working Committee (NWC) and stakeholders from Edo State late Monday night.
The party had earlier stated that its primary election to nominate a flag bearer for the Edo gubernatorial poll will hold on February 17, while sales of forms commenced on January 10 to end on January 29.
Meseko stated: “After due consultations with Edo State APC stakeholders, the NWC has approved DIRECT PRIMARIES as the mode of election to be used to produce the governorship candidate of the Party for the state.
“In view of the large numbers of aspirants jostling for the Party’s ticket in Edo State, the NWC urged the stakeholders to unite in trimming the number of aspirants.
“The NWC urged all the Governorship aspirants to exhibit Party discipline and patriotism by shunning the attitude of running to the Courts at every opportunity instead of exploring internal dispute resolution mechanisms, especially after Party Primaries.
“It was resolved that for the smooth running of the party, all members should ensure strict compliance with their financial obligations to the party, in line with the party’s constitution.
“The NWC also resolved that for want of time, the E-registration exercise of the party for fresh members be conducted after the primaries in order not to derail the smooth conduct of the primaries.
“The stakeholders were urged by the NWC to promote unity within the ranks of the Party in order to go into the election as one family bound by progressive ideals and fully geared to reclaim the Party’s mandate in Edo State.”
In his remarks at the opening of the meeting, the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, emphasised the need to improve internal democracy to produce a candidate that will be widely accepted as the party’s flag bearer.
He said: “We have to improve our internal democracy – we have to deepen and widen it. We need to understand the party and its manifesto; its rules and regulations. We need to understand its philosophy.
“We need to move towards having a party ideology so that we will not be an ordinary political association whereby everybody can come in just to win an election.
“We have to be transparent and at the same time we have to also adopt a guided democracy where we can discuss issues so that we limit if possible the number of contestants.
“Edo is an APC state. Now we have to take Edo back. We have only one state from the South South for the greatest party in Africa which is not acceptable. We were able to get only Cross River State; after crossing so many rivers we succeeded in getting Cross River. But Edo State, we Isha Allah must get it.”
On his part, a former APC national chairman and Edo State leader of the party, Sen. Adams Oshiomole, assured of the determination to reclaim the state from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming governorship election.