APC ready for transparent direct primaries in Oyo — Adeyemo

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Chief Moses Adeyemo, has declared that nothing would hinder the party from conducting free, fair and credible direct primaries to select its candidates from among the array of aspirants.

The former deputy governor made this known on Monday while receiving members of the screening and appeal committees deployed to the state by the APC national secretariat in Abuja at the party’s Oke-Ado secretariat in Ibadan.

Adeyemo gave the assurance that no stone would be left unturned to ensure that all aspirants were treated fairly in line with the principles of progressivism and constitutional democracy.

“We set machinery in motion to achieve consensus across the board, but reports available to me indicate that we may have to adopt the second option, which is direct primary, in certain cases, including the governorship ticket.

“To this end, we shall work towards organising a free, fair and credible exercise in all affected areas, even as we cannot rule out the possibility of some aspirants having a rethink and embracing the consensus arrangement where necessary.

“Where we have more than one aspirant, Abuja will send officials to conduct the primaries, while we at the state level will provide the necessary support to ensure everything works out in the interest of our great party.

“Whether through consensus or direct primaries, every registered party member will be involved, as they will all gather at their respective wards on the date fixed by the national secretariat for each elective position.

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“For consensus, members will lend their voices through affirmation, while voting will be conducted in cases of direct primaries,” Adeyemo stated.

Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of the screening committee and former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon. Taofiq AbdusSalam, assured party members that the committee would carry out a thorough screening process to ensure that only eligible aspirants were cleared to participate in the primaries and emerge as APC candidates in the forthcoming elections in the state.

Other members of the screening committee are Kamal Sanusi (secretary), Smart Oluwole, Tunde Kolade and Olabamiji Agunloye, while members of the screening appeal committee include Jibola Oduwole (chairman), Abimbola Jack (secretary) and Jelil Jimoh.