The Edo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
has kicked against the decision of the national working committee (NWC) to
adopt direct primary for electing the party’s candidate for the 2020
governorship election.
At a meeting in Abuja on Friday, the NWC led by Adams
Oshiomhole, national chairman of the ruling party, agreed on the mode for the
primary.
Direct primary means all card-carrying members of the party
from local government areas of the state will be eligible to vote in order to
produce a candidate.
Speaking with reporters, Anselm Ojezua, chairman of the APC
in Edo, accused the NWC of imposing the direct method on the state as a means
to target Godwin Obaseki, the governor.
Oshiomhole and Obaseki, who fell out midway into the tenure
of the governor, have been in a race to outwit each other.
Ojezua said the national executive committee (NEC) of the
party had clearly stated that each state is at liberty to adopt any method it
prefers.
The governorship primary is slated to hold on June 22, while
the election is expected to hold on September 19.
The leadership of the party has granted a waiver to Osagie
Ize-Iyamu, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in
2016, to partake in the primary.
Ize-Iyamu had defected to the APC in the heat of the crisis
between Obaseki and Oshiomhole. He is believed to have the backing of the APC
national chairman.
In the buildup to the 2019 elections, the APC in Lagos
adopted direct primary, which saw Akinwunmi Ambode, the incumbent governor,
losing the gubernatorial ticket.
Ambode had described direct primary as “the beginning of a
revolution about the deepening of democracy in Nigeria”.
However, he lost to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who clinched the
ticket and went ahead to win the election.
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