Primaries don’t decide candidates in APC, says national secretary: “If you claim candidate(s) did not win primaries, who will upload the name(s), it is mere child’s play. Claims that someone emerged in primary is a ruse, we know there is no primary. We don’t hold primary in our party. We pick those that we want to pick. The claim of a winner of a primary is false.”
The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Ajibola Basiru, has revealed that the ruling party’s primary elections is not a true avenue for picking its candidates for general election.
Instead, the party chieftain, a former Senator, said the primaries notwithstanding, APC’s candidates emerge through the backdoor in a selection process engineered by the party hierarchy.
If true, this is in violation of the extant laws guiding the country’s electoral process.
The ruling party just concluded an elaborate direct primary elections to pick candidates for the 2027 elections. But Basiru said anyone relying on the outcome of the primaries is unrealistic.
He disclosed this in a viral video on social media, where he appeared to be holding a meeting with members of the party.
In the video, Basiru who was speaking in Yoruba language, disclosed that the party’s candidates for President, Senate and House of Representatives will be uploaded by the National Secretariat, hence, described mockery about some aspirants not winning primaries as a mere joke.
His words, “If you claim candidate(s) did not win primaries, who will upload the name(s), it is mere child’s play. Claims that someone emerged in primary is a ruse, we know there is no primary.
“We don’t hold primary in our party. We pick those that we want to pick. The claim of a winner of a primary is false,” he said.
In the said video, he even asked a former lawmaker if he emerged through a primary election and the lawmaker replied that he was picked inside the government house.
Meanwhile a statement that emerged from the meeting revealed that the APC scribe cautioned party members against insulting or abusing civil servants in the State as they are critical to the party’s success at the August 15 governorship poll.
“Civil servants are enlightened people. They are respected in their communities, and people listen to them because they understand governance and leadership.
“I have enormous respect for them, and nobody has the authority to insult them in the name of our party,” he said.
Bashiru appealed to workers in the state not to direct their grievances against the APC over comments made by individuals acting on their own.
“I want to appeal to our civil servants not to use their influence against the APC because of careless statements from some individuals.
“Those comments are personal opinions and not the official position of our party,” he said.
Bashiru also warned APC members and candidates against complacency ahead of the governorship election, insisting that victory would only come through hard work, unity and reconciliation within the party.
“I don’t believe in automatic victory. There is nothing like that in politics. We must work in every ward and every polling unit, and we must appeal to those who are aggrieved,” he said.
- Vanguard newspaper
