Ogun APC Guber: Group Insists on Direct Primaries
The current attempt by the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun to upturn the directive of the Adams Oshiomole led national leadership of the APC, adopting Direct Primaries for selecting the party flag bearers in the forthcoming gubernatorial, senatorial and other elective positions in the state, would be resisted by critical stakeholders in the affairs of Ogun State’ socio, economic and political developments.
This warning was giving over the weekend in Abeokuta at a stakeholders meeting between some of the Ogun State gubernatorial contestants and the Ijebu Boys Association (IJ BOYS), a non-governmental and non-partisan interest group whose members are made up of mid-age men who are elites and professionals with membership spread across Europe, America and Nigeria.
Reacting to a widely published press statement last week Friday in some national dailies, where Senator Amosun was cited as one of the APC state governors rejecting the Direct Primary order, and adopting the Indirect Primaries, the IJ Boys stated that the said incumbent governors are afraid of their dirty deals and are plotting to plant their stooges who will cover their tracks.
The association therefore appeal to the party leadership at local, state and federal levels to ensure that the state governors do not hold them to ransom.
“The party’s adoption of the principles of democratic practice must be seen to be working in the APC. Anything otherwise will jeopardize the hard-earned goodwill of the party in a place like Ogun State, and it will become so easy for opposition party to defeat APC if Amosun insist on imposing his stooge as governorship and himself as Senatorial flagbearers”, warned Mr. Bayo Okenla, President of the association.
Speaking further, Okenla averred that if the party has successfully implemented the Direct Primaries in Osun State, and if President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted to go through the Direct Primary option as ordered by the national working committee of the party led by the National Chairman Adams Oshiomole, and if the national leader of the party Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu has also vehemently embraced the Direct Primary arrangement, why would some state governors stand against it? What are they afraid of?
“Going against such order amounts to party indiscipline which must not be condoned in the APC. The party promised Nigerians in 2015 to be poles apart from what the previous ruling party PDP was notorious for; that is party indiscipline, poor internal democracy, imposition, ineptitude, lawlessness etc. That was one of those fallacies that the CHANGE mantra was meant to change”.
“We would join other critical stakeholders across the length and breadth of Ogun state to resist Senator Amosun’s desperate attempt to impose Indirect Party Primaries arrangement with which he wants to influence party delegates and get himself elected as the party Senatorial flagbearer for Ogun Central Senatorial district and also get his governorship nominee Hon. Adekunle Abdulkadir Akinlade elected. No Way! Everybody must be given a level playing ground in line with the global principle of democratic best practice. All card-carrying members should be allowed to vote who they want to represent them through a hydirect open primary as ordered by the party national leadership”, Okenla declared.
