The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Chief Moses Adeyemo, has said nothing will stop the party from conducting free, fair, and credible direct primaries to select its candidates from among the pool of aspirants.
The former Deputy Governor made this known while receiving the Screening and Appeal Committee members deployed to the state from the APC National Secretariat in Abuja. The meeting held in his office at the Oke-Ado Party Secretariat on Monday.
Adeyemo assured that no stone would be left unturned to ensure that all aspirants were treated fairly in line with the principles of progressivism and constitutional democracy.
“We set machinery in motion to achieve consensus across board, but reports available to me indicate that we will have to go by the second option, which is direct primaries, in certain cases, including the governorship ticket. To this end, we shall work towards organizing a free, fair, and credible exercise in all the affected areas, even as we cannot rule out the possibility of some aspirants having a rethink and supporting the consensus arrangement,” he said.
“Where we have more than one aspirant, Abuja will send officials to conduct the primaries, and we at the state level will provide the required support to make everything work in the interest of our great party. Whether by consensus or direct primaries, every registered party member will be involved. They will gather at their respective wards on the date fixed by the National Secretariat for the primary of each elective position. For consensus, members will lend their voices for affirmation, while voting will be done in the case of direct primaries,” Adeyemo stated.
In his address, the Chairman of the Screening Committee and former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon. Taofiq AbdulSalam, assured that the committee would do a thorough job to ensure that only eligible aspirants were cleared to participate in the primaries and fly the APC ticket for the House of Assembly in the forthcoming general election.
Other members of the Screening Committee are Kamal Sanusi, Secretary; Smart Oluwole; Tunde Kolade; and Olabamiji Agunloye. Members of the Screening Appeal Committee are Jibola Oduwole, Chairman; Abimbola Jack, Secretary; and Jelil Jimoh.
