As the All Progressives Congress (APC)aspirants in Ekiti State prepare for primary election into state and national assemblies Thursday, leaders of the party have been called upon to employ modalities that would lead to the emergence of quality and people oriented candidates for the coming elections.
An aspirant to the House of Representatives under the flag of the APC in Ekiti State, Prince Rufus Ojo Abegunde, said this on the heels of lingering brickbats trailing the uncoordinated mode of selecting candidates for the party’s coming elections
The aspiring lawmaker who spoke on the heels of current protests that greeted the attempted imposition of indirect primary on aspirants by APC hierarchy in the state pleaded for caution in going about the electoral process, noting that it would be a huge political calamity to play into the hands of opposition who are lurking in the corner to reap the gains of APC’s ineptitudes
A top aspirant into the Senate, Ayo Arise, has recently backed out of the race blaming the party for circumventing agreed format of a direct primary on the eve of election
Abegunde who is from Ikole/Oye Federal Constituency 1, said the APC would only coast home victoriously in coming polls if the people are allowed to choose who represents them without fair or favour
“Democracy is a game of number and this winning number can only come from a popular and acceptable aspirant. We see the clear manifestation of this in our recent elections in Osun and Ekiti. What happened in the two states are pointers that the electorates are returning to the original status quo of using their voting power to choose who leads them.
“We have fought a good battle in the past. We have, by collective effort secured power back to the people of Ekiti from a government that has for the past four years been riding rod shod on our people.
But we are not yet there. There is still a lot of reorientation to do on our electorates to liberate them from the gory grip of political enslavements they are just coming out from. This is why we need to tread cautiously to disallow the enemy from catching in on our lapses to launch a return,” he said
Abegunde who expressed hope for a return to the direct primaries in deciding who qualifies for the coming elections in the state noted that the chance of the APC is bright in the state if the leaders should begin to concentrate more on fence mending to build a common front for the party.
“There is no time we need unity in Ekiti APC better than now. Our major opponent, the Peoples Democratic Party is almost of equal strength with us and all they want is a division that will create a lacuna for them to have an edge. This we must not allow to happen by all means,” he said
Abegunde promised that he would be ready to contest under a free and fair environment and abide by whatever is the decision of the majority of the electorates while keeping loyalty to the APC.
“I am in this contest with a firm determination to join hands with other progressive forces in our noble party, to make the necessary changes that will put our victory in the realm of pride and envy,” he said.
He however expressed optimism in his victory at the end of the pending primary exercise, saying: “We are confident that in that moment of critical decision-making, I should be the undisputed choice of the people because we have convinced them beyond an iota of doubt that our movement is the one our people have been waiting for.”
