Gov aspirant sets to boycott APC indirect primaries in Kaduna

A Gubernatorial Aspirant under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jalal Falal, has said he is boycotting the forthcoming Indirect mode of primary adopted by the State chapter of the party.

He made this known during a press conference at the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), on Wednesday.

“Sequel to the adoption of Indirect Primaries as a mode of nomination of candidates for the forthcoming 2019 general election by APC in Kaduna State and our efforts through the National Headquarters of our party to reverse the induced position of Kaduna State Chapter of APC by Kaduna State Government which as at the time of this conference no substantive resolution is received from the National Headquarters as to set aside the position of APC Kaduna State Chapter and order for Direct Primaries to be conducted in the State.

“In regards to the above premise, we have reached out and consulted widely with elders and well-meaning people of Kaduna State, politicians and non politicians alike, NGOs, CSOs, CBOs, religious, community and traditional leaders, students’ union bodies, trade and labour unions, women and youth organizations, our team of supporters within and outside our party, volunteer campaign groups and many other stakeholders whom we have contacted before we made our intention known,” he stated.

He said “the advice we have gotten from all the aforementioned stakeholders without a contrary view is to simply boycott the primaries.

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“On this note, we found it extremely important to refresh your minds on reasons why we joined the race for APC Gubernatorial ticket in Kaduna State in order to appreciate our decision of boycotting the party’s Indirect Primary Election as the best option available to us at this juncture.

“We were moved by the idea of Direct Primaries that was said to be the option for nomination of candidates in APC at all level. We were motivated to put into practice the ‘not too young to run’ law assented by the President which is now a law.

“We were determined to give APC members a better alternative aspirant who will deliver the party to victory at the general election to avoid risking the party’s ticket to an unpopular candidate that may cause the party to suffer defeat from the opposition.

“In view of the decision of the APC Kaduna State Chapter which is yet to be reversed by the National Headquarters of our party up to the time of this conference, we cannot subject ourselves to Indirect Primary Election by those we believe are not legitimately elected by the general congress of the party, hence, we have boycotted the primaries.

“We sincerely thank the good people of Kaduna State for the confidence they reposed on us and the support they have shown to the struggle to this end.

However, the youth of Kaduna State deserve a special recognition for their sacrifice and doggedness on the cause they believed would have salvaged Kaduna State from the present situation of total bad governance.

‘We thank you most profoundly for identifying and standing by us all through,” he concluded.