Indications that all might not be well with the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged, yesterday, as some National Working Committee (NWC) members and notable leaders of the party openly challenged the decision to adopt direct primaries to elect candidates at all levels.

The aggrieved party stalwarts have vowed to resist the adoption of the model, which was recently employed in the selection of governor candidate in Osun State.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, APC National Vice Chairman North-East, Mustapha Salihu, accused some leaders of the party from the South-West of plotting to foster regional imperialism on the party.

Salihu believed that apart from the fact that the system required a lot of supervision, the electoral body was not prepared for the system.

When asked if the NWC was divided on the method for the primary, Mustapha replied: “I cannot say we are divided, because division is a big word for us to use in a family issue. Actually, there may be divergent views, and all these divergent views will be trashed out at the NEC.

National Chairman of the party Adams Oshiomhole has, however, assured that the party would follow Independent Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guidelines.
He stated that the APC would comply with the INEC guidelines because they were derived from the provisions of the Electoral Act.

The former Edo governor who spoke at the National Caucus meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday night further assured that the principles of internal democracy would be followed in the primaries.

It was the first National Caucus meeting of the party since he was elected over two months.

Speaking to State House Correspondents at the end of the three hours meeting (8.30 – 11.30 p.m.), Oshiomhole said the meeting discussed the forthcoming party primaries based on the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2019 general elections as released by INEC in January.

• Excerpted from a Daily Sun report

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