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Tag: primaries

  • Bayelsa guber: APC’s meeting on mode of primaries ends in deadlock

    A stakeholders’ meeting convened on Tuesday by the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to decide on the mode of the party’s primary election for the November 16 governorship election in the state ended in deadlock.
    It was gathered that the APC state secretariat in Yenagoa, the venue of the meeting, became rowdy following outburst by some members of the state working committee against the Chairman of the party, Jothan Amos.
    The meeting reportedly had critical stakeholders of the Bayelsa APC including various camps of the governorship aspirants in attendance.
    A former Governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva; a former Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri and a founding member of the party, Prince Preye Aganaba were frontline governorship aspirants, who attended the meeting with their supporters.
    Also in attendance were state House of Assembly and National Assembly lawmakers elected on the platform of the party.
    It was gathered that no sooner had Amos introduced the meeting with remarks that the stakeholders should adopt a direct mode of primary than some of his executive members descended on him with objections.
    They were said to have told Amos that his approach was wrong and against the constitution of APC insisting that before the stakeholders’ meeting, the state working committee ought to have met to decide on the agenda.
    Despite the stalemate, some of Sylva’s loyalists claimed that the stakeholders harmonized and adopted the direct mode primary mode of election.
    The camps of Lokpobiri and Aganaba, however, said that since the meeting ended in deadlock, the mode of primaries was never discussed by the stakeholders.
    Speaking shortly after the meeting, the Director-General, Heineken Lokpobiri Campaign Organisation, Warman Ogoriba, said there was no discussion on mode of primary election.
    Warman said: “The meeting ended in a stalemate. The party chairman ought to have met with the state working committee members to agree on the meeting and the agenda before coming to hold the stakeholders’ meeting. But the chairman failed to do so and our constitution provides for that.
    “A number of the working committee members opposed the meeting and when he came up with the issue mode of primaries, it didn’t go down well with most of the stakeholders and that is the reason the meeting ended in a stalemate. No decision was taken because majority of the stakeholders felt that the chairman’s approach was wrong”.

  • Kogi 2019: APC's unlearned lessons in primaries, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    Kogi 2019: APC's unlearned lessons in primaries, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    Once beaten, twice shy. This time-honoured counsel is meant for those who learn from history. But as Edmund Burke (1729-1797) stated, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” Or as George Santayana (1863-1952) put it, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
    Barely four months to the November 16, 2019, governorship poll in Kogi and Bayelsa States, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is about ignoring to learn from history, especially from its electoral outing in the 2019 general election.
    As the ruling party, it’s expected to sweep the polls at the national and sub-national levels. That wasn’t to be. Though it won the February 23 presidential election, the party lost grounds in six states of Adamawa, Edo, Imo, Ondo, Oyo and Plateau, and gained a foothold in Gombe, Kwara and Sokoto.
    In the March 9 governorship and state assembly election, it also lost in states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Imo and Oyo, while it took under its belt Gombe and Kwara.
    The electoral fiasco is traceable to the series of crisis from the party’s inability to conduct rancour-free primaries for theFebruary 23 and March 9, National and Governorship/State House of Assembly elections, respectively.
    Many fractured state chapters produced more than one candidate for each position on offer, and the electorate hardly recognized the candidates cleared by the courts or the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the polls.
    Four months after, the courts are yet to dispose of some of the pre-election cases filed by aggrieved aspirants, who felt cheated out of the contests by party stalwarts.
    Going forward, the watching public had expected the APC to be guided by lessons learnt from its botched primaries in the states, but the auguries look to repeat themselves in Kogi, and perhaps in Bayelsa as well.
    Why? The National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC has approved “indirect primaries” for the choice of the party’s candidate in Kogi, according to the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu.
    He said the approval was at a meeting of the NWC, “where a formal request from the Kogi executive and stakeholders in preference for the indirect primary was considered and deliberated on.”
    If this were so, why have “20 (or 22) aspirants” of the chapter formed a coalition to oppose the primaries as open to manipulation to favour a “particular aspirant” in the November 16 election?
    By last Thursday, July 11, another camp of “37 aspirants” joined the fray, endorsing the “indirect primaries” that they claimed has given victories to the APC in Kogi since 2015.
    Those opposed to indirect primaries first laid their complaints in mid June 2019. The “20 aspirants” told the press in Lokoja that, “direct primaries remain the most transparent and credible process of electing popular candidates for the party,” adding, “we believe that indirect primaries will not be free and fair.”
    On behalf of the aspirants, Senator Alex Kadiri (Kogi East), said: “We cannot afford to see our lovely state going down the drain by (because of) some selfish politicians. We have unanimously rejected any process other than direct primaries in electing those that will represent the party in the governorship election in 2019.”
    Then in Abuja on Thursday, July 11, “22 aspirants,” led by Comrade Mohammed Ali, read to the press a letter they addressed to the National Executive Committee (NEC) and NWC of the APC.
    Their grouse? The decision to adopt the indirect primaries was taken “without adequate consultation with the party’s critical stakeholders, especially the governorship aspirants… and other contending groups in the party’s polarized structure.”
    Alleging that adopting indirect primary “amounts to giving the state governor, Yahaya Bello, undue advantage,” the aspirants warned that the method is “fraught with severe implications,” one of which is APC’s possible loss of the November poll.
    But to the 37 “aspirants” in the APC quagmire in Kogi, the indirect primary “is the most suitable” because of time and the huge resources needed to conduct direct primaries.
    At the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja, the aspirants’ spokesperson, Comrade Edima Amade, said to conduct direct primaries for over 500,000 members “will take time, money and logistics to produce a clean and uncontested membership register between now and August 29, 2019.”
    “And if that impossible feat is achieved, the party simply cannot organize trouble-free direct primaries for at least half a million people, as anybody can obtain the party card from anywhere and not cause a legal crisis,” he said.
    Their worry is that alleged card-carrying members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were the ones parading as APC aspirants, whereas they reportedly worked for the PDP “up to the last round of the 2019 general elections.”
    Comrade Amade said it’s clear to the people in Kogi that, “the real aim of the 20 (22) aspirants “is to destabilize the party, from within, as it goes into the 2019 governorship election.”
    While both camps are at it, the scheming is unambiguous. Each side is playing for or against the second term bid of Governor Bello, whose “opponents” fear he could scheme the primary process to advance his ambition.
    Yet, the dilemma for the APC is the opposing aspirants’ seeming relish to threaten the “electoral debacle” that the party suffered in Zamfara and Rivers in the 2019 polls.
    Recall that based on its failure to conduct “valid primaries,” the courts barred the party from fielding candidates in the states in the February-March 2019 elections.
    And when, on the eve of the polls, a High Court cleared the APC in Zamfara to present candidates, and the party pulled a stunner by winning all seats, the appellate courts vitiated the victories due to non-conduct of “acceptable primaries.”
    So, the “aggrieved” aspirants’ warning to the APC not to attempt traveling the Zamfara and Rivers road by “indirect primaries” in Kogi should galvanize the party into a quick intervention it promised the “protesters” last Monday.
    As Mallam Issa-Onilu said: “The NWC will look at the merit of the petitions, in line with the party’s constitution, and come out with a position in due course,” thanking the “aggrieved APC stakeholders for their trust in the NWC to do the right thing.”
    Of course, “doing the right thing” is the only way to guaranteeing that Kogi remains in the APC column! The party’s gubernatorial and state assembly shock defeats in Adamawa, Bauchi, Imo and Oyo, and its entire “forfeiture” of Zamfara and Rivers to the PDP should be a constant reminder of its struggle with internal democracy.
    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
  • Primaries: Appeal Court affirms Sen. Na’Allah’s nomination

    Primaries: Appeal Court affirms Sen. Na’Allah’s nomination

    The Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, on Saturday upheld the decision of Federal High Court, Birnin Kebbi, which struck out suit challenging the validity of Sen. Bala Na’Allah’s nomination during the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries conducted in October 2018.

    The suit filed by Mr Sadiq Sule-Iko was challenging the nomination of Na’Allah as candidate of the APC Kebbi South Senatorial District.

    The appellant prayed the appeal court to quash the lower court’s decision.

    The judgement read by Justice Justice Frederick Oho, dismissed the preliminary objection filed by Respondent and granted the appellant’s prayer for amendment of originating summon.

    Oho said judges considered arguments and submissions of all parties in the suit and arrived at upholding the lower court’s judgement.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lower court struck out the case on the grounds that it was not filed within 14 days as required by the constitution.

    It further held that in spite of the alleged irregularities, intimidation, police harassment at the primary election of Oct. 3, 2018 and Oct. 4, 2018, the plaintiff failed to file the suit within the required time thereby rendering the case “incompetent”.

    The court also faulted Sule-Iko’s counsel for not signing the writ of summons and not supplying valid information to the court.

  • 2019: APC lawmakers recount loses, lampoon Oshiomhole, INEC over controversial primaries

    Lawmakers elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC in the lower chamber of National Assembly have cried out about the irregularities and maltreatment meted out to them over the just concluded primary election of the party.

    In a motion of urgent public importance Hon. Abubakar Chika Adamu (Niger, APC) lambasted the ruling party for what he called lack of internal democracy in the conduct of the party primary.

    Adamu in his debate on the motion lamented the lack of internal democracy in the conduct of the APC primary election in Rafinya/Shiroro/Munya Federal Constituency of Niger State which he represents at the green chamber of the National Assembly.

    The lawmaker said that the the party primary was full of irregularities and manipulations and accused the party leadership of bias.

    He further accused the party of orchestrating a scam and lamented that party nomination forms were too exorbitant and outrageous.

    According to the lawmaker, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC abdicated its responsibility during the primary election as the supervisor of political parties in as provided for in Sec 7 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

    He further expressed displeasure over the conduct of some state governors who were hell bent on installation of their stooges as governor inspite of clear provisions of the party’s constitution.

    He also hinted that there were cases of violent attack on innocent citizens by thugs and party agents during the primary election in his state.

    The APC lawmaker therefore asked the House to set up an Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the matter and have a report on the party primary.

    Speaking in support, Hon.Adekunle Akinlade (Ogun, APC) who contested the governorship ticket of the party in his state and lost said that the party shortchanged so many of its members during the exercise.

    He stated that he clearly won the Ogun State APC governorship primary but the APC party leadership decided to share the position to other contenders for the ticket.

    Also in his contributions, Hon. Muhammad Soba (Kaduna, APC) said that he felt shortchanged during the party primary in APC his former party and added that the forms were too exorbitant.

    Even PDP lawmakers as Hon. Nnenna Ukeje (Abia, PDP), Hon. Sergius Ogun (Edo, PDP) and some other lawmakers expressed displeasure over the conduct of the primary elections of their own party. However they hailed the embittered APC lawmaker as he spoke on his own case shouting: “fire on, fire on”.

    The final heat came from Prof.Mojeed Alabi (Osun,APC) a professor of Political Science who stated that the the conduct of the APC primary is faulty and added that political parties by their formation and orientation are oligarchic in nature.

    Consequently, the Speaker Hon. Yakubu Dogara who presided the session threw the matter to vote and it was overwhelmingly voted for.

    Dogara thereafter constituted the Ad-hoc Committee and named Hon.Edward Pwajork (Plateau, APC) as Chairman. Other members include Hon Olayounu Tope (Kwara, APC) and Hon. Baballe Bashir (Kano, APC) among others.

  • Controversial primaries: Aggrieved APC aspirants seek Buhari’s intervention

    Some aggrieved aspirants under the aegis of All Progressives Congress Aspirants Forum have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the party leadership to ensure that justice is done concerning their grievances.
    Secretary of the forum, Mr. Yusuf Banki, made the call at a news conference on Friday in Abuja.
    Banki said that all aspirants across the country had collectively made huge sacrifices and contributions to the success of the party and strengthened the mass followership it currently enjoys.
    He said that every aggrieved aspirant in the party must be encouraged to ensure the success of the party in the 2019 general elections.
    “Nobody shall be used and dumped as in the past, and each and every member will be carried along by the APC administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
    “In addition, in line with our party’s strong resolve, the increase in the participation of women and youths is primary focus of the 2019 elections to ensure that we continue to strengthen our democracy.
    “Majority of the victims of injustice and impunity during the recently concluded primary election are the women and youths.
    “We are appealing to all our aggrieved members across the country to be calm, remain steadfast, committed, and loyal to Mr. President as we work closely with him to address our grievances,” Banki said.
    He noted that the APC Aspirants Forum was set up in 2014 to strengthen and compliment the efforts of the party to ensure the popularity, spread and victory of aspirants and candidates throughout the nation.
    “We have over 7,000 registered members and over 200 affiliated political groups, NGOs and civil society organisations,” he said.
    Banki explained that the APC decided to reward the new entrants into the party at the expense of the loyal and committee members during the just concluded primaries across the country.
    A governorship aspirant from Yobe, Umar Ali, alleged that he was shortchanged by the party leadership in the state, adding that their grievances could affect the fortune of the party if not addressed.
    Ali also accused the National Working Committee of the party of injustice and called for its dissolution.
    According to him, there will be problem for the APC if all the aggrieved aspirants are not carried along.

  • Zamfara APC crisis: Yari hints on defection plans after controversial primaries

    Zamfara APC crisis: Yari hints on defection plans after controversial primaries

    …insists no amount of pressure will make him leave APC
     
    Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, on Friday said that he has been under intense pressure to defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC) with his supporters.
     
    Yari, who is the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.
     
    He also handed over the results of the primaries conducted in the state to the President after the Jumaat prayer.
     
    He promised that despite the pressure from his people to dump the APC, he will remain with the party and fight against any injustice.
     
    According to him, his supporters were aggrieved over the turn out of events following the party leadership’s refusal to acknowledge the primaries conducted last week in the state.
     
    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also barred the APC from fielding any candidates for the 2019 poll in Zamfara for not conducting primary elections in the state.
     
    He explained that the development has caused frustration among his supporters.
     
    The governor also warned the national leadership of the party not to present any list that did not emanate from the primaries conducted before the expiration of the deadline for the primaries in the state.
     
    Reacting to reports of his purported romance with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party on the social media, Yari, who was flanked by the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, said, “I don’t know whether that is a joke or otherwise.
     
    “But for me, if you check my history since 1998, APP, and 2002 when Buhari joined ANPP, and 2015 APC, no time that I shifted from one party to another. That is not in my culture. So, the issue of leaving the party is not true.
     
    “But some other people are sending rumour through the social media. I have seen my picture with the PDP and other parties. Yes, I cannot deny pressure from the people that we should leave APC but what I told them is that what we are looking for is just justice.
     
    “We conducted election and we want to see what the result is going to look. But I think for any body to come under the national secretariat and say he is going to nominate a candidate, I think, it is a very huge joke.” he said
     
    The Zamfara State Governor wondered why the INEC could claim that there were no primaries in the state when the government agencies including the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the electoral umpire was at hand to monitor the process in the state.
     
    He said though there were some hitches in some places in the state that made the committee to postpone primary elections in the affected areas, the process he said was concluded the next day.
     
    He said, “There were hitches somewhere but we decided to suspend the area there were problems until the following day. So, the following day, we continued and we concluded the election by the people nominated by that committee to conduct election but the committee ran away and refused to collate the results.
     
    “So, what we did was that we filed the results and kept it under the watch of those people and waited to see what was going to happen. The second committee waited 32 hours to the closing, we thought the committee will hasten and come up with modalities for the election.
     
    “But committee wasted about 18 hours discussing about how the modalities were going to be. So, when we realised that, we were actually advised by the supervisory agency that is INEC and other agencies there that the best thing to do as the people had voted and since it was 7am was to start counting.
     
    “When they finished, they released the materials and we adopted the numbers. Already, we had produced our own set of forms for the national Assembly which we have done and then, when we concluded, I didn’t see members of the committee until one and half hours to the time.
     
    “Then, when they came I asked them what they came for, they said they came for reconciliation and I said which reconciliation? People can not reconcile over a month and you are trying to reconcile in an hour. Then, I realised that there was a game that was being played so that we can run out of time.” he said
     
    According to him, the national body of APC had other crude ways to produce candidates contrary to section 87 of the Electoral Act that the party must follow a process before producing any candidate.
     
    “Therefore, the most important is that we conducted election on the 3rd and 4th of October and all agencies, INEC, Civil Defence, Police, and DSS were there and they signed for us and the report was written by the REC that elections were conducted.
     
    “Unfortunately, for the INEC to say that there was no election, we don’t know where they got their information but we believe they have a report directly from their representative there that election was held in Zamfara state, so, it depends on what they want to do.
     
    “But, in any way, we were advised when the chairman of the committee came out and said there was no election in Zamfara state, we realised it was going to be a litigation issue. We quickly rushed to court, we filed a case and the case is coming up next week.
     
    “So, I think that is the only saving grace for the party and INEC for court of competent jurisdiction to give judgement on Zamfara matter that there was election.” he stated.

  • Primaries: Cross River APC chieftains protest, demand Oshiomhole’s resignation

    …say national chairman is destroying the party
    Some All Progressives Party (APC) chieftains in Cross River State have called for the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
    The chieftains, who took to the streets of Calabar with placard-carrying supporters to register their protest, were piqued that Oshiomhole had refused to recognize the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani, as the governorship candidate of the party in the state, despite a court order to that effect.
    Federal Commissioner of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Cross River State, Mr Sylvester Nsa, accused the national chairman of impunity, saying if he continues, he would destroy the party.
    “The people of APC in Cross River have gone out to protest against impunity, injustice and total and blatant refusal to respect court ruling by the national chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole. His attitude in recent times has made us to understand that Oyegun, the former chairman, was a saint and angel. Therefore the people of Cross River State are angry that Oshiomhole has brought impunity in Cross River State and not only in the state, the action of Adams Oshiomhole will destroy APC in Nigeria.
    “The people of APC across the country, rise up and tell Oshiomhole that he cannot destroy APC, therefore in Cross River State, Usani is right. Usani is the answer. No Usani no election. We want the whole country to know that Usani built the party. He nurtured the party. He is the leader of the party. He stands to protect the interest of the common men and that is why, the people of APC in Cross River have stood their grounds that without Usani, there is no APC in the state. I stand here as one of the leaders in the party in the state to declare that Adams Oshiomole should be called to order. This is a man that is a beneficiary of court order. He became a governor because of court order and today Oshiomhole does not want to honour court order. Therefore he must be called to order.
    “I call on the judiciary to stand up otherwise, the action of Oshiomhole is a total play down on the integrity of the judiciary. It is an insult to the judiciary, it is an insult to democracy, so we call on Oshiomhole to leave Cross River State alone. He must leave us alone, otherwise, he would come to Cross River and walk alone because the people are angry and they have spoken that they want Usani. If it was court that made Oshiomhole a governor, he must respect court order. He is a man of impunity. He should resign otherwise if he continues, he will destroy this party,” Nsa said.
    The Director-General of the Usani Campaign Organization, Pastor Ekpenyong Cobham, also said, “This march is a clear message to the leader of this party, which is the President, that Oshiomole is toying with the election of the President. He is toying with the soul of APC. We will not accept impunity. Oshiomhle is not above the law. He must act within the confines of the law. If he does not do that, then we would revolt. This impunity must stop. Nigeria is a democratic nation and we expect him to function within the pressings of the law. That is our position. We cannot be subverted on intimidated. We stand resolute behind Pastor Usani Uguru Usani. He is the leader of our party. He is the governorship candidate of our party and the man who has built this party.
    “Some people have been sent on secondment from the other side to come and hijack this party. We would not allow that. They were part of the destruction of Cross River State for 20 years and now they are coming here to tell us they believe in the change. They are not part of the change. They have no change to offer us. They are here on secondment. We don’t want them. They are not our candidate, we didn’t vote for them. Let them return to where they came from. In APC we work for change and Oshiomhole must work within the confines of that change. If peaceful protest is being resisted, we would rise up. Cross River State belongs to us. Let him respect the law. We need change in the state and the only man who can offer that change is Pastor Usani. He personifies light. Darkness cannot dethrone darkness. Oshiomhole must leave Cross River alone. That is what we are saying and what we stand for.”
     

  • [Updated] Complete Result Of PDP Presidential Primary Election

    [Updated] Complete Result Of PDP Presidential Primary Election

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential primary election has ended with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar grabbing the opposition party’s ticket for 2019.
    The Waziri Adamawa received 1,532 votes in the exercise which held in Port Harcourt, Rivers state from Saturday to Sunday.

    Announcing the results, the chairman of the convention and governor of Delta state, Ifeanyi Okowa said Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, scored 693 votes to emerge second while Bukola Saraki, Nigeria’s Senate President scored 317 votes to come third.
    Below are the results as announced by Governor Okowa…
    BUKOLA SARAKI 317
    ATIKU ABUBAKAR 1,532
    AMINU TAMBUWAL 693
    IBRAHIM DANKWAMBO 111
    AHMED MAKARFI 74
    SULE LAMIDO 96
    DAVID MARK 35
    RABI KWANKWASO 158
    DATTI BABA-AHMED 05
    ATTAHIRU BAFAWARA 48
    JONAH JANG 19
    KABIRU TURAKI 65

  • Imo APC primaries: Okorocha gets senatorial ticket, son in-law, Nwosu, emerges gov candidate

    The immediate past chief of staff to Governor Rochas Okorochaa of Imo State, Uche Nwosu, has been declared the governorship candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state.

    His father-in-law and incumbent Governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha, was also elected as the party’s senatorial candidate for Imo West Senatorial District.

    This is coming after the National Working Committee had cancelled the earlier primary which produced two aspirants — Senator Hope Uzodinma and Nwosu — as candidates and ordered for a rescheduled primary on Saturday.

    Announcing the results of the rescheduled primary at the APC Secretariat in Owerri in the early hours of Sunday, the chairman of the electoral panel, Ibrahim Agbabiaka, said that Nwosu polled a total of 269,524 votes to defeat eight other aspirants.

    According to him, the primary held in the 305 Independent National Electoral Commission’s wards across the state.

    Agbabiaka said that other aspirants, Uzodinma, got 2,729 votes; the deputy governor of the state, Eze Madumere, 2,646 votes; Jude Ejiogu, 3,656 votes; and Chris Nlemoha, 925 votes.

    Peter Gbujie, according to Agbabiaka, scored 4,855 votes; George Eche, 2,445 votes; Chima Anozie, 3,248 votes and Chuks Ololo, 6,428 votes.

    Agbabiaka said, “With the powers vested in me as the state returning officer, I hereby declare Uche Nwosu as the winner of the 2018 governorship primary in Imo State for the 2019 general election.”

    Uzodinma and five other aspirants, Madumere, Gbujie, Nlemoha, Eche, and Ejiogu had, on Saturday, announced that they would not be taking part in the rescheduled primary, saying that they were sticking to one of the results of the first contentious primary which was cancelled by NWC.

    The panel also announced that Governor Okorocha polled 141,117 votes to defeat Uzodinma and Osita Izunaso, who garnered 1,359 and 24 votes respectively.

    They also announced the immediate past commissioner for information in the state, Prof. Nnamdi Obiaraeri, as the winner of Imo North senatorial primary.

    The panel disclosed that the professor of law got 67,438 votes to defeat the incumbent senator for the zone, Benjamin Uwajumogu, who got 5,743 votes.

    Emma Ojinere was declared the winner of Imo East senatorial primary, having scored a total of 41,562 votes, as against Chima Anthony who got 37,815 votes and Max Igwe’s 275 votes.

    Nwosu, in his speech, shortly after he was declared the winner, said that he would immediately commence the process of reconciling with all the aspirants who lost out to him in the primary.

    He said that what was utmost now that the primaries had come and gone was to make sure that APC wins the general elections in the state.

    He declared his emergence as a major political milestone in the annals of political history in the state, saying, “To my fellow youths, I am holding this mandate in trust for you. I shall not let you down.

    “Together, we shall move into Government House in 2019.”

     

  • Buhari's wife, Aisha condemns conduct of APC primaries, blasts Oshiomhole for encouraging 'impunity'

    ..vows to dissociate self from party activities
    The wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, has criticised the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Mrs Buhari, whose husband Muhammadu Buhari officially emerged the presidential candidate of the APC early Sunday, made her position known on her official Instagram page.

    She has been known to openly express her views on the party and the presidency in the past.

    Aisha Buhari’s criticism was more general as she did not specify which particular primaries or candidates she was referring to.

    The APC has conducted presidential, gubernatorial, and senatorial primaries in the past week across Nigeria.

    Read her full criticism below.

    It is disheartening to note that some aspirants used their hard earned money to purchase nomination forms, got screened, cleared and campaigned vigorously yet found their names omitted on Election Day, these forms were bought at exorbitant prices.

    Many others contested and yet had their result delayed. Fully knowing that AUTOMATIC tickets have been given to other people.

    All Progressives Congress being a party whose cardinal principle is change and headed by a comrade/ activist whose main concern is for the common man, yet, such impunity could take place under its watch.

    Given this development one will not hesitate than DISSOCIATE from such unfairness, be neutral and speak for the voiceless.

    It is important for the populace to rise against impunity and for voters to demand from aspirants to be committed to the provision of basic amenities such as:
    1. Potable drinking water

    2. Basic health care ( Primary Health Care centers)
    3. Education within conducive & appropriate learning environments.

    Let us vote wisely !!!!
    LONG LIVE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA!!!!!!