Ruth Oginyi
Members of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Ebonyi State, Wednesday called for direct primaries in the party’s upcoming primary saying that only a direct primary can give the party victory in 2023.
The members who called themselves Legacy APC members accused the governor of planning to impose the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Francis Nwifuru on the party as his successor.
The group said such will affect the chances of the APC winning the 2023 governorship election in Ebonyi.
A member of the group, Alhaji Haroun Ajah who addressed the press on the development in Abakaliki, the state capital appealed to the national body of the party to intervene and address the anomalies for it is late.
Shah said that the party stakeholders will not accept the imposition of any candidate from the governor.
He further alleged that Governor David Umahi has sidelined the legacy members of the party and adopted those who joined him into APC when he defected as candidates for the 2023 general election.
His words, ”We, the legacy and loyal members of APC in Ebonyi State also want the national leadership of APC to intervene to ensure that the party, which we labored to build is not destroyed.
” This act of quiet destruction of APC structure in Ebonyi State by Umahi has been worsened by his penchant for the imposition of candidates for elective positions.
“Evidence of this discrimination against legacy members of APC in the state is the recent national convention of the party where the governor singlehandedly, without consultation imposed the three slots zoned to Ebonyi State on the party.
Without respecting the need for harmonization and integration, the governor continues to deploy the handful of persons he brought into APC in virtually all positions at the expense of old members that he met in the party.
“Governor Umahi is pursuing that narrow agenda by preventing original APC members from aspiring to any elective positions. He does not consult stakeholders before making decisions that affect the party. He made sure that the few PDP members he brought into APC made up 95% of all the Local Government and Ward Executives of the party in the state. For instance, currently, the man he has anointed as APC gubernatorial candidate is an embattled speaker who has not defected to the party, the three senatorial seats, four House of Representatives, and twenty-four House of Assembly seats are all reserved for Governor Umahi for PDP members who returned with him.
“We have been trying to make the governor see reasons and imbibe democratic ethos in the running of APC in Ebonyi State, but Governor Umahi has continued to shun entreaties to follow the path of civility and fairness.
“In the light of these obvious efforts by the governor to impose his preferred candidate on Ebonyi State APC, we use this opportunity to plead with our national leaders to ensure that direct primaries are organized for aspirants in the state.
“We believe that only a direct primary where the aspirants would test their popularity could restore the confidence of APC members in the party’s candidates and not the choice of one man who wants to pitch Ebonyi APC against the people.
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