APC governorship aspirants in Ekiti demand fresh primary

Governorship aspirants in the botched All Progressives Congress (APC) primary for the July 14 governorship poll in Ekiti state have demanded for a fresh primary election.

The aspirants, who took the decision at the end of a meeting at Midas Hotel, Ado Ekiti, on Sunday, also demanded another election committee.

Recall that the leadership of the party had delegated Tanko Al-Makura, governor of Nasarawa state, to chair the committee which organised Saturday’s primary but the aspirants demanded another committee other than the one presided over by the governor.

Speaking with reporters at the end of Sunday meeting, Yahaya Kolade, spokeswoman of the aspirants, said all those who attended the meeting agreed that there should be another primary.

“We are in total awe of what really happened. We are shocked about the disarray that happened in that stadium yesterday. It is not what we expected for our state. The quality of the ballot papers was not intact. Nobody can really see their faces very well, the security was porous and there was poor preparation,” she said.

“For all these problems, we have enlisted, we have some suggestions. The composition of the panel that was conducting the election, we want a new set to conduct the election. Another suggestion is that we want the voting and accreditation to be in an enclosed hall. We condemn monetisation of the voting system and we condemn camping. We don’t want people to be camped in Ekiti again.”

Kolade added that the aspirants agreed that the secrecy of the ballot should be respected.

She said under the new arrangement, the executive committee of the party in the state will provide transportation and feeding for all delegates.

“We are expressing to all our partners and potential colleagues that governors should not be biased about any candidate. Everything should be free, fair and transparent. There should be impartiality of the security system wherever the venue would be,” she said.

“We are getting ready for the voting. That is why this meeting was held. It is an impromptu meeting. We expect within the next 72 hours, we will be able to have our voting.”

The party has until May 14 to present its candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).