Edo: Oshiomhole, Obaseki’s men in fresh battle over primaries
National Vice Chairman (North-Central), of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Suleiman Wambai, has said that direct primary remains the best way to select APC’s governorship candidate in Edo State to avoid a repeat of what happened in Zamfara State where its candidates won elections in 2019 but were disqualified by the courts.
Wambai, who stated this yesterday, while speaking with newsmen in Lafia also explained that there are three available ways for candidates of the party to emerge in any state. According to him, candidates can emerge through consensus, direct or indirect primaries depending on what the party considers as the best option in a given state.
“The leadership of the party at the state level has been empowered by the APC constitution to decide which mode of primaries to adopt in their state,” Wambai declared. The party chieftain explained that the APC national headquarters has taken a position, which is direct primaries for the September 19 governorship election in Edo State because there are factions in the state.
“If you allow any of the factions to select the governorship candidate for the party in the state, it can be quashed by the courts just like it happened in Zamfara State during the 2019 elections. So to avoid the Zamfara episode, the party at the national level decided that direct primaries is the only option,” he added. Wambai also explained that the leadership of the party wais working hard to attract more federal presence to the North-Central zone in terms of projects and appointments and pledged support of the zone to President Muhammadu Buhari’s developmental strides. Wambai’s position on direct primaries elicited sharp disagreement from the two camps of the APC in Edo.
While the faction loyal to APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, thumbed up the position, the faction backed by Governor Godwin Obaseki disagreed. Wambai can’t speak for Edo APC – Ojezua The faction supported by Governor Obaseki said the position of Wambai that the governorship primaries in Edo State would be direct as his personal opinion and not that of the party. State chairman of the party, Mr. Anselm Ojezua, told Vanguard yesterday in Benin:
“The method to be adopted in the governorship primaries will be the decision of Edo State APC. “We will then transmit this to the national headquarters of the party. This is as far as I know. So, he is not in a position to speak on whether it will be direct or indirect method that the party will adopt in Edo State.”
Wambai is right – Imuse
However, Col. David Imuse, retd, the Edo State factional chairman of the APC loyal to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said what Wambai said is “the decision of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party which is constitutional. He only re-echoed that decision.” Also, the Publicity Secretary, Chris Azebanmwan, said Wambai’s position is in line with the party’s constitution. He said: “He interpreted the constitution of our party correctly in the sense that Article 13 (4) (14) of the APC constitution clearly vests the authority to decide who flies the flag of the party in any election. That clause says that the NWC shall conduct primaries to determine the candidate of the party for presidential, governorship, national assembly and state houses of assembly elections. It is a very clear mandate so it is not subject to the vagaries of individual interpretation.
“His pronouncement is totally in line with the constitution of the APC and we have said over and over again that anybody that seeks elective office must subject himself to primaries; even President Buhari subjected himself to primary “Somebody who said he has done so well, that he is more popular than the party should not be afraid to subject himself to direct primaries which is actually the approval of the members of the party that he is supposed to have worked for. So why should anybody be afraid of direct primary? That is the most democratic approach for the emergence of party candidates.” Vanguard
