He said this while addressing leaders and members of the party at his Abeokuta residence, on Wednesday, that the leadership of the party in the State should respect the directive of the National Working Committee (NWC), that direct mode of primaries must be used in electing candidates for all elective posts.
The meeting which lasted for about two hours had in attendance were Senator Adegbenga Kaka; Mr.Jimi Lawal; Prince Dapo Abiodun; Hon. Abiodun Akinlade; Mr Ayo Olubori and Hon Abayomi Hunye among others, Osoba, said the party should not be divided against itself, as it played out in Osun governorship election, last Saturday.
The former governor noted that the party would have won convincingly in Osun, if the House had been united, advising them to learn from the outcome of the election.
“There should be no factions within the party. We should not allow the party to be polarised. We should learn from the outcome of Osun polls. We went into the election divided. A divided house will also be confronted with problems,” he said.
Osoba said the party in the state should work towards winning the forthcoming elections, adding that the party in the State remains one indivisible family.
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On the mode of primary to be adopted in the primaries, Osoba, explained that the electoral process of the party lies in the hands of the NWC and that such must be respected.
The former governor spoke against the insistence of the state executive committee that indirect primaries would be used in electing its candidates.
He explained that the NWC of the party is vested with the power of handling the party’s electoral process.
“Electoral process is the business and functions of the NWC. I was the chairman that drafted the APC constitution. We are about 80 people that did the job. The power to submit the names of candidates reside with the party’s national chairman. The power for modalities is vested in the NWC,” he added.
Osoba warned the party leadership against indirect primaries which he said could be an albatross if there is a mistake in the process.
The former governor said, “If we are using indirect primaries, we need to elect delegates from the ward level. I don’t want us to get into a situation whereby our opponents will identify our mistake and challenge the process in the court of law. Let us follow the directive of the NWC.
“We voted the present state exco on July 23, so what happened to the register used for the election? Don’t let us give the opposition parties the opportunity to infiltrate us. We are using direct primaries for the presidential election on Saturday and it is the same process we are going to use for the remaining primaries.
“The primaries must be peaceful. We must showcase Ogun State as the place of birth of the leader of the progressives, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo,” he said further.
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