The primary was conducted twice, in which Senator Simeon Ajibola was declared the winner by the National Electoral Committee of the party led by the Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan.
However, the State Chairman of the party, Iyiola Oyedepo, has said that until the National Working Committee of the party officially announces the result, the state does not have a candidate.
The first attempt made to choose the state flagbearer ended in the cancellation of the programme as the governorship aspirants did not agree on the authentic delegates list to be used.
This nearly led to breakdown of law and order at the Stella Obasanjo Hall in Ilorin and physical altercation at the other venue.
The second attempt which was scheduled for 2pm did not commence until 1:00 the following morning.
Despite the initial setback in which the 4-man committee led by Gabriel Suswan moderated, the senator representing Kwara South was declared the winner, having scored the highest votes, followed by Dele Belgore and Gbemisola Saraki respectively.
However, Iyiola has said that until the national leadership of the party affirms and announces the candidature, the state could not claim to have one yet.
He condemned what he described as excessive use of money to buy the conscience of the delegates and advocated the scrapping of delegates to choose candidates in future primaries.
Reacting, the Kwara State leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bukola Saraki, wondered how the State Chairman could be waiting for national leadership before affirming and supporting the emergence of a candidate since when this was a state affair.
No comments:
Post a Comment