Senator Smart Adeyemi has admonished the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress not to impose a candidate on the party in Kogi state. He said such imposition will be met with stiff resistance.
Speaking with journalists in Lokoja after a stakeholder meeting of the party, Adeyemi said the APC in the state has operated an open mode of primaries for all their elective positions, warning that any contrary decision that will show favoritism to any particular person by the national body will spell doom for the party.
He said majority of the stakeholders have endorsed the State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello for a second term, adding anybody not in line with the decision should be made to pass through free and fair primaries.
“Party stakeholders in the state like me will not accept a situation where people were handpicked to fly the flag of the party. That is a demonstration of godfatherism that is strange to Kogi APC. The NWC must display an assuring role to every member of the party that there would be no imposition of candidates. As far as the November 16, 2019 election is concerned, we should not give room for imposition of any manner. The NWC should by now taken a clue from Zamfara, Bauchi and other states where the perceived imposition took a negative toll on the party at the end of the elections.
“Kogi APC will say no to any form of imposition of candidates on us. We will not tolerate it; we must assure the party members that there must be internal democracy in our party. We have many aspirants who have shown interest in the contest, why must the emphasis be on the governor not getting the ticket? What the party should place emphasis on is free, fair and credible party primaries,” he said.
