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Tag: primaries

  • Osun 2018: APC may adopt option A4 for primaries

    There are strong indications that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State may adopt the Option A4 system in picking its candidate for the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

    Party leaders, The Nation gathered, are seriously considering the option as they seek to conduct a rancour free primary election.

    Sources said that following the recommendation of the Option A4 by APC leaders in the Southwest in the aftermath of the  crisis that ensued during the first governorship primary election in  Ekiti State earlier this month, and the growing number of gubernatorial aspirants in Osun State, concerns have been mounting on the need to ensure that the process of selecting the APC flag-bearer is free, fair, credible and acceptable to all aspirants.

    Option A4 was made popular during the regime of former military ruler, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

    It entails voters queuing behind their preferred candidates or photographs during election. The process will also see the aspirants contesting for the ticket right from the ward level, through the local government level and finally at the state level before a winner is declared.

    A member of the state executive committee of the party said it would help to remove all doubts that can discredit the process and also allow the most popular aspirants to emerge as the party candidates. The party chieftain who pleaded anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the matter added that the growing number of aspirants led to a search for a very transparent and rancour free option.

    He said:”We are yet to decide finally on how the process will go but I can assure you that we have learnt a lot of lessons from the Ekiti State primaries. We have also read the minds of our leaders in the Southwest enough for us to know that they now desire free, transparent and credible process of picking party candidates for elective offices. The need to also ensure we field the most popular candidate against other parties is equally pressing.

    “It is very likely the Option A4 system will be used here in Osun. The bottom-line is that all aspirants should go to town and work. Nobody should drop anybody’s name as having endorsed him or her. Our governor has insisted that all the aspirants are his people. The party will soon announce the modalities to aspirants. I am very optimistic that we will have rancour free primaries in Osun APC.”

    According to the timetable released by the national secretariat of the APC, the party’s candidate will be picked on July 7.

    The election proper is scheduled for September 22.

    Efforts to confirm the development from the spokesperson of the party in the state, Kunle Oyatomi proved abortive as calls to his phone lines were not going through at press time.

    No fewer than 27 aspirants will contest the APC governorship primary election in the state. Confirming the large number of aspirants during the week, APC Chairman in the state, Gboyega Famodun, said expression of intention in the gubernatorial primary attracts a fee of N500, 000, while urging the aspirants not to see the primary as a do-or-die affair.

    He warned aspirants against conducting  themselves “in a way that will embarrass the party or make it to be as if we are at war with each other.”

    Notable among the 27 aspirants currently in the race are Gboyega Oyetola, Chief of Staff to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Lasun Yussuff, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives; Najeem Salaam, Speaker, Osun House of Assembly and Kunle Rasheed Adegoke. Others include Moshood Adeoti, Secretary to Osun Government and Peter Babalola, Chairman, Osun Civil Service Commission.

     

    … Spends N21billion on feeding school children

    The Osun State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Remi Omowaiye, said the state has spent N21 billion on the school feeding programme.

    According to him, the government has built educational infrastructure, employed and retained teachers,  as well as fed about 250,000 pupils daily by serving 4,725,000 plates of meal  through the school feeding programme since 2012.

    Speaking at the calisthenics programme organised to commemorate the 2018 Children’s Day and the 61st birthday of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, held at the Osogbo Township Stadium, Omowaiye said,  the governor has “Undoubtedly, over the years demonstrated courage and resilience in the face of oppression, capacity and intellectualism in administration and governance, humility and simplicity as a leader.”

    He lauded the governor for exposing over 300,000 students to ICT world through the introduction of Opon – Imo (Tablet of Knowledge), adding that he has been a model to other governors.

  • Ekiti APC guber primaries : Disagreements resolved, election to hold soon

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) said on Sunday that the disruption of the Ekiti governorship primary by political thugs was regrettable and gave assurance that the process will resume as soon as possible.

    The party also asked all those aggrieved as a result of the Saturday’s ward congresses to approach the appeals committee  set up by the party for that purpose and seek redress.

    In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, the party expressed satisfaction with the general conduct of the ward congresses which it described as successful.

    It said the chairman of the Ekiti Governorship Election Primary committee and governor of Nasarawa state, Tanko Al-Makura has held a meeting with all the aspirants in Ekiti and resolved the issues that led on contention, assuring that the resolution was that the process be resumed immediately.

    Although he did not give any definite date for the resumption of the process, The Nation’s findings revealed that all political parties have until May 14, 2018 to conduct their party primaries, while they are to submit for. CF001 and CF002 to INEC by May 15, 2018.

    The statement said: “the situation in Ekiti is regrettable. The issues has been resolved and if is hope that the exercise canon co he where it stopped. The primary Chairman spoken to the national chairman after consulting with the aspirants. The position is that the process should resume as quickly as possible. The issue of indefinite postponement does not arise.”

    On the conduct of the ward congresses, the statement said “the All Progressives Congress (APC) wishes to congratulate all its members for the generally peaceful conduct of the Party’s ward congresses which took place across the country over the weekend.   

    “The Party especially commends members who served in the congress committees for their dedication and impartiality. We however acknowledge there are some issues arising from the conduct of the elections in some states.

    “With this in view, the Party had set up various appeal committees which will begin sitting from Monday, May 7, 2018.

    “We therefore call on all Party members to remain law abiding and where there are issues, they should seek redress through the appeal committees in their respective states.”

    The congress which held several parts of the country as scheduled on Saturday was either postponed in some places or marred by complain in a few other places, while a chairmanship aspirant was reportedly killed in Delta state.

  • Nwobodo to APC: don’t cancel Anambra primaries

    Nwobodo to APC: don’t cancel Anambra primaries

    A Former Governor of old Anambra State Chief Nwobodo has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) against cancelling the “transparent and credible” governorship primaries won by Mr Tony Nwoye.

    Nwobodo, who was Chairman of Anambra Governorship Election Planning and Strategy Committee, said: “That election was transparent, free and fair and everybody saw  it on television from start to finish and hence no one should dare to nullify that election” Nwobodo said in a telephone interview with journalists.

    The former Governor’s remark re-echoed his position which he made public the day the election result was announced by Governor Shettima on live television, August 27 in Awka, Anambra State. Nwobodo had in a widely circulated message he personally signed said he had monitored every process of the primary election and from his experience, the August 26 APC primaries was the most transparent in the history of Anambra State.

    “I watched with keen interest the live transmission of the 2017 All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Primary for Anambra State, where Dr. Tony Nwoye was declared as the winner with a total of 2,146 votes.“I ?wish to congratulate the National Chairman and National Working Committee for making this possible. I also congratulate the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, and his Committee for conducting a free, credible and rancour-free primary in the state, making it the first time any political party would conduct such a transparent and rancour free primary in the state.”

  • Sad twist to Anambra UPP primaries

    What could anybody have done differently to have brought a different outcome? What was not done to make sure that everything went well? These are the questions officials of the United Progressives Party (UPP), have not ceased to ask since the current rumble in the party, owing to the August 19 primaries to select the candidate for the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State.

    In their determination to create a quintessential, exemplary, and seamless process to showcase that Nigeria could replicate what is done in other climes, they had gone to a great length to detach themselves from the entire process.

    In a recent media interaction, founder and national chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie, underlined the raison d’etre for this. His explanation was UPP would not toe the line of selection instead of election that has become the bane of Nigeria’s democracy. Nobody wins in the party, except in the field, he asserted.

    This was why the party came up with a constitutional amendment adopted at its June 29 non-elective convention in Awka that all the delegates for primaries such as in Anambra, must be known in advance.

    This was to cure the situation in other parties, where war delegates become products of officials of political parties who come from the national headquarters to elect candidates most times strange to them.

    Hear him: “In Anambra, there are 326 wards. So, if you want to hold elections in those 326 wards, that party must have 326 electoral committees, who will not come from those places. And every member of the party in the ward is a ward delegate that will come to elect three people.

    “It is a logistic nightmare. It has never succeeded. Rather, what you get from that exercise, is different lists of those who have been purportedly been elected as delegates. So, when you now come to the state congress, it has happened severally all over the country, you have parallel congresses. And after that you have two or three candidates emerging. The battle is then taken to the national headquarters of the party, where only the national chairman and secretary have the authority to now sponsor candidates on behalf of the party by signing the nomination forms.

    “And so, the highest bidder will now have his own form sent in, while the losers will either go to court or work against the party, because they are unhappy. They have always lost in Anambra because of this.

    “What our party now did is to say, instead of three people per ward, make it five. But let it be Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Woman Leader and the Youth leader of the ward. They are the delegates. Nothing stops the ward executives from meeting and saying you are going to cast votes on our behalf and this is the candidate we want you to vote for. It doesn’t bother me. But the important thing is that we know who our delegates are. Their names will be in our website. On the day of state congress, the accreditation will be in that order. If your name is not on that list, you will not be accredited to enter the ground. And they will all sit in the alphabetical order of their local governments. Then, it is going to be televised live.

    “Then, we will have the ballot boxes designated in the names of those who are aspirants and then we will be calling out the names of the ward delegates in alphabetical order. You will go and cast your votes in the boxes and people will be seeing you. So, if you have gone to take money from the aspirants, they will be there to see how you are voting.”

    Of course, among these were supposed to be 724 statutory delegates made up of 362 women and 362 youths, to give both segments adequate representation and voice, an innovation, which he said was exclusive to the party.

    So, where did the party go wrong? This question even becomes more germane for anybody who was at the Emaus House, Awka, the capital of Anambra State, on that June 29.

    Right there, before thousands of supporters and with the Klieg lights of tens of television cameras beaming the proceedings live to millions of viewers, the eight aspirants then, had sworn to ensure that they would neither do anything to scuttle the process before nor undermine its integrity thereafter.

    Of course, one of them was Hon. Chudi Offodile. Yes, the self-same Offodile, who, on Monday, August 21, made a show of resigning from the party. Why this new turn?

    He now claims that the delegates list which the party posted on its website, to ensure nobody was kept guessing was changed at the last minute and that the new names had no telephone numbers.

    What he did not explain to his media audience was that he had earlier failed in his surreptitious bid to stymie the entire event by filing a suit at the FCT High Court, Abuja, to obtain an ex-parte motion, while at the same time still showing still campaigning for votes.

    The second, was that the exercise should have been put off due to the death of one of the party members during a stampede at the venue of accreditation.

    First, the delegates list was posted on the party’s website on July 14, more than a month before the exercise.

    However, Chief Dike Ogbuehi, in putting a lie to the allegations insists that Offodile, participated in all the processes up to the eve of the August 19 primaries, only to demand that it be put off right at the point the exercise was well underway. Not only did he voluntarily purchase the party’s Expression of Interest Form, but presented himself for screening, after again, paying the nomination fee. Why would he surreptitiously sue the party, at the same time he was pretending to be fully involved in the exercise, if he had nothing up his sleeves?

    What would he be doing with the telephone numbers of the delegates on the morning of the primaries, if indeed that was part of his beef?

    Now, he argues that the party should have put off the exercise as a result of the death of its member during the accreditation without considering the logistics and other factors. A country’s entire football team had perished in the sea prior to a competition, yet a new team was raised to continue. People had even died on their way to wedding ceremonies, which still took place.

    The only plausible conclusion anybody could glean from the foregoing is this is a case of a typical Nigerian who is unable to deal with political defeat.

    Incidentally, Okorie tried to obviate this early enough. Three days to the exercise, exactly on Wednesday August 16, he held a meeting with Offodile and Chief Osita Chidoka, his opponent at the polls in his Enugu home. The purpose was to try to get them contest as friends and members of a family, which has obviously failed.

    As it were right now, Offodile, insists that the last has not been heard on the matter. He has asked his supporters to await his next step. But what step could have been more sensible and honourable than to reconcile himself to the fact that his streak of electoral misfortunes may have more to do with himself than those he usually accuses? Would a deep introspection ought not have been better instead of making trouble or blaming others for what appears some clear cases of self-inflicted woes?

     

    • Chinemere writes from Awka, Anambra State.

  • Lagos APC primaries: Matters arising

    The All Progressives Congress conducted its primaries recently to elect candidates for the July 22 local government and councillorship elections. As it is natural in the contest of this nature, tempers were high and there were issues which arose from complaints by members of the party who did not agree with the party’s position of returning some candidates on the principle of consensus.

    This has continued to generate reactions till date.   Such aggrieved group called this principle imposition while the party based its argument on the principle of consensus and party supremacy. The fierce nature of the contest was not unexpected because Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in two years has opened up the economic potentials of the state through massive infrastructure that has made Lagos a very viable state economically with an improved annual Internally Generated Revenue of N302 billion which is more than that of 30 states put together. There are Local Council Areas in Lagos State that generate more revenue than many state governments.

    Before I am misunderstood of supporting imposition, I wish to make it clear that I am a believer in free choice in a democracy but at the same time, democracy comes with its own challenges and peculiarities depending on the political environment. I have read recently in the media the grievances of groups and individuals within the APC who allegedly felt short-changed during the conduct of the primaries and have been expressing their anger through newspaper advertorials and sponsored articles.

    The alleged main sponsor of this group is Dr. Muiz Banire, a former commissioner in the state, who was in government for an unbroken 12 years as special adviser and commissioner and presently, a national officer of the APC. If anybody should accuse APC leaders of imposition, it should not be Banire who himself was a beneficiary of the same system since 1999. Banire was a lecturer at the Lagos State University when he was picked by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a special adviser and later commissioner.

    Not a few people kicked over his  choice but he stood his ground because he saw in him qualities he always see in those he mentored who are today serving the nation in sensitive capacities. A good example is the acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and many ministers and governors who cut their political teeth in the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu School of politics and leadership. It is therefore hypocritical of Banire, who was a prime beneficiary of party supremacy and consensus, to now turn against the same process and system that brought him to limelight and derisively call it imposition.

    We all still remember how the present Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Raji Fashola emerged as the gubernatorial candidate of the APC in the 2007 elections and later became governor after winning the general election. The fact of the matter is that, it is those within the party who because of their inordinate ambitions, create problems for the party by blowing simple disagreements out of proportion as they’re currently doing even though they’ve benefited from the same process in the past.

    The voters out there are not bothered about how the candidate of a party emerged in as much as the party does not breach the electoral act in the process. What they’re concerned with is the quality and eligibility of such candidate and this is why despite the hue and cry about the emergence of Fashola in 2007, during which as many as eight ACN aspirants including the then Deputy Governor, Femi Pedro and some commissioners left the party in annoyance and drew a battle line with Tinubu who was accused of imposing him, he went ahead to win the general election with a landslide.

    The electorate behaved that way because Asiwaju who presented Fashola to them as his successor performed as governor and they believed his successor who was his Chief of Staff would equally perform and they were right. Many of those who left came back after Fashola won.  It was the same system that produced the present governor, Ambode, who against all odds won the primaries of the APC because he was the preferred candidate of the APC leadership. Today, Lagosians are happy with what Ambode is doing to transform Lagos and make life better for them.

    Coming back to the Local Government elections, I don’t see how the matters arising from the conduct of  the last APC primaries would affect the fortunes of the party at the polls because the electorate out there are not unaware of the massive infrastructural transformation that is going on in all 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in the state. About 181 roads covering over 800 kilometres are also being fixed in the second phase of the road rehabilitation programme. Primary and secondary schools have been built and renovated as well as healthcare centres and community halls even as many people in the grassroots have been empowered financially.

    I also learnt that party leaders have held series of meetings with the aggrieved aspirants to rally round the party’s choices so that they can sweep the polls while they will be adequately compensated with other positions in the Local Councils since politics is about give and take in making the tough decision of who gets what, how and when. For the avoidance of doubt, constitutionally, the power to present candidates for elections rests solely with a political party which can employ any method it deems fit to do so. This includes conduct of primary election to select its candidates or through consensus and affirmation. The APC had used a combination of the methods in picking its candidates. No court can query the power of a political party about this except if it breaches any of the laws in the process. The Lagos APC therefore has not breached any law.

    It is not as if the PDP which is the main opposition party does not have its own internal wrangling; in fact the PDP crisis is worse because there are two factions of the party, the one recognised by law as at today is the Sheriff faction while the Markafi faction is yet to know its fate at the Supreme Court. This means that the fate of any PDP candidate is not certain until the Supreme Court finally decides. The electorate would not likely gamble with their votes by leaving sure candidates for unsure ones more so when the party in government in the state is impacting their lives positively.

    My message to Muiz Banire and his group who are bent on making a mountain out of a molehill and trying to incite the ordinary voters who are not members of any political party is that if he feels he is that popular, he and his group should test his popularity in any other political party after all, a political party is  free entry and exit and there are many of them looking for new members.

     

    • Akintunde wrote from Iyana Ipaja Lagos.

  • Stakeholders call for fresh primaries

    Stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Amuwo-Odofin have urged the party leadership to conduct fresh primaries for its members.

    Addressing reporters in Lagos, Chairman of the APC in Amuwo-Odofin, Alhaji Waheed Gbadegesin said what happened at the Lagos State APC primaries held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium was of serious concern for the party.

    He added that the stakeholders’ meeting was convened in view of the charged atmosphere that had enveloped the Amuwo-Odofin Community after the primaries could not address the issue of those who would carry the banner of the party in the forthcoming local government election in Lagos State.

    “I was shocked this morning when I received a call that Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area Secretariat was burning. But, we thank God it was brought under control.

    “It was sad and painful that we lost a party member when we got home from the APC primary. His death could have arisen due to shock he suffered when the venue of the primary was thrown into pandemonium and people were scampering for their lives.

    “After the deliberation, the stakeholders urge our leaders to conduct fresh primaries for us in respect of what happened during the APC primaries. The people are aggrieved and I had to  pacify them.

    “We want the party to follow its directives and the position of the leaders who had directed our members to go through primaries if they disagreed on the aspirants endorsed.

    “In view of that, our members at Amuwo-Odofin agreed that we should go for primaries. If the person that was endorsed wins, we will support him. But it was another kettle of fish entirely. We request that the party conducts fresh primaries to enable us to choose our candidates.

  • ‘I’ll win primaries’

    An All Progressives Chairmanship in Ojokoro Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Mr. Oladipupo Okeyomi, has vowed to win tomorrow’s primaries.

    “My good work will speak for me,” he said.

    Okeyomi, who said he enjoys the support of residents, pledged to improve the LCDA by partnering the private sector to create jobs and attract investors.

    According to the aspirant, any serious government will generate revenue internally and also woo investors.

    An APC chieftain in the council, Abdulfatai Adedokun, described Okeyomi as “a man of the people”.

  • Sheriff’s camp Ondo PDP primaries tomorrow

    Sheriff’s camp Ondo PDP primaries tomorrow

    Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is having its primary for the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State tomorrow.

    The party, in a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Yemi Akintomide, urged all members to abide by the rules and the time-table put forward by the National

    Secretariat of the PDP.

    The statement said the primary began with the screening of aspirants by the national screening committee chaired by Yunusa Mohammed at the national office in Abuja last Friday.

    The election holds tomorrow at the party secretariat on Oyemekun Road, Akure, Ondo State where delegates will pick a candidate and flag bearer of the party.

    The statement said: “As the lawful authentic and widely acceptable PDP in Ondo State, members of the Governorship Primary Committee headed by  Ahmed Gulak, have slated the primary for 11:00 am in line with the Section (50) 1 of the PDP Constitution.

    “The party has satisfied all the requirements for the composition of the 203 wards party congresses of our party on August 16, 2016 when it held it delegates’ congress across the 18 council areas of the state going by the requirements stipulated in subsection a to n of the party’s constitution Section 25(1).

    “Five aspirants will be contesting the party primary election on the said date: Barrister Olusola Ebiseni; Niran Sule-Akinsuyi, Mrs. Abiye Ademuyegun; Hon. Bamiduro Dada and Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim (CFR).”

  • Edo APC primaries update: Masari committee arrives stadium

    Governor Aminu Masari, Chairman of the Electoral Committee deployed to Edo State by the national body of the All Progressives Congress to conduct the party primaries has arrived Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, venue of the primaries.

    Alhaji Masari and his committee members arrived the venue at about 5pm.

    He is currently inspecting the stadium and giving directions for the proper placing of ballot boxes so that it would be within the view of every one present.

    All the aspirants are seated at the stadium including top government officials.

    Hundreds of persons who were not accredited were not allowed entry into the stadium but they stayed outside beating drums and singing praises of their preferred aspirant.

    All delegates were asked to seat at their various local government stand.

  • Why party must conduct primaries, by Akeredolu

    Why party must conduct primaries, by Akeredolu

    Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and a governorship aspirant on the platform of Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) has reiterated the importance of party primaries to the success of any political party at the poll.

    Primaries, according to him, are essential aspects of party politics.

    Akeredolu, in a statement, explained that when primaries are held, aspirants were more likely to accept the collective decision of the party, thereby reducing the tendency for rancours.

    The 2012 governorship candidate of the state Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)  added: “When we have primaries, all the aspirants will fall in line.

    “By the time we obtain forms, I’m sure that the number of  aspirants will reduce. Even with five or more aspirants, we can agree among ourselves that whosoever wins, the others will support. I have always argued that primaries are essential part of party politics. It is necessary.”

    He argued that he was chosen as the ACN flagbearer in 2012 Ondo gubernatorial election based on the existing party policy at the time, saying the party had since changed the policy in favour of party primaries.

    Akeredolu said: “The party adopted a method of choosing a candidate. That method was what the party adopted in a good number of states. It was a pattern for the ACN then.

    “Well, a number of people reacted to it. People have also raised objections to it. I believe their objections and reactions have been taken into consideration in the decision of the party to conduct primaries.”

    Speaking on his chances at clinching the highly coveted  APC gubernatorial ticket, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria said his popularity in the party and among the people is second to none.

    He added that in the interest of equity and fair-play and in the interest of the party, his party men and women would be willing to give him the ticket.

    Akeredolu emphasised the necessity of a free and free primary, devoid of imposition and intimidation.

    “The national leadership of the party has assured us of a level-playing ground. We believe they will do just that. APC has demonstrated that it can conduct transparent primaries. The records are there. We had the most transparent presidential primary. We had  free and fair governorship primaries in Kogi and Bayelsa states.  Ondo State will follow these democratic examples,” he said.

    The governorship aspirant called on other contestants to focus on issue-based campaigns rather indulging in cheap resort to name dropping and endorsement merchandising.

    “I advise those who claim that they have been endorsed by the leadership of the party to wake up from their slumber.  Only a free and fair primary can guarantee the success of our party in the November governorship election… Anyone who thinks otherwise is day dreaming,” Akeredolu said.