The March 27, 2023 governorship primaries of the All Progressive Congress (APC) is barely two months away.
Party primaries will be held from March 27 to April 17, 2023. The 2023 Kogi gubernatorial primary election cycle will soon be in full swing.
The new Electoral Act includes; direct, indirect primaries and consensus for the selection of candidates by parties.
The CONSENSUS: This is straightforward – once everyone agrees on a particular candidate and no one else steps forward to challenge the process – the candidate emerges.
The DIRECT primaries: This is the process whereby ALL party members can vote to select a candidate.
The INDIRECT primaries: This is the process of selecting candidates through the votes of a few people (delegates) in the party. These people are usually party executives from the ward level to the national level. Party executives here refers to holders of position like youth leader, women leader, chairman, secretary, treasurer, and ex-officio.
Indirect primary elections are popular around the world and widely considered a safe way to ensure the right candidate is selected by having the decision made by supposedly wiser, objective party executives.
Murtala Ajaka is the best candidate for APC. His accomplishments speak pretty loudly in all nooks and crannies of the state.
The APC party executives must vote for a formidable candidate. There is a need for party members to be pragmatic and logical in choosing a popular candidate in the primaries so that victory will easily be achieved by the All Progressive Congress (APC). This is the only rational strategy for a victory.
Among the name (s) we have heard so far, Yakubu Murtala Ajaka remains the candidate to beat. He standout because he has a comprehensive youth-focused agenda that could liberate the younger generations. He is one man for all in Kogi politics. Let other aspirants tell us how many people have benefited from them politically.
As far as the grassroots community is concerned, Yakubu Murtala Ajaka notably standout – he is well-known across the state. All politics is local. He remains a pillar amongst the youths – he remains a pillar of development at the grassroots.
Primaries are where elections are decided and the message is; there is no need to rig your party primary for your least-popular candidate. To rig an underdog is an irrational pipe dream. The only sensible strategy is to unite behind Alhaji Murtala Yakubu Ajaka – a popular grassroots candidate.
There is the need to conduct a popular and seemingly fair primary and win the elections. Either the party’s favorite candidate wins, or the popular candidate wins at the primary – the popular candidate will stand a better chance of winning the general elections comes November 11, 2023.
Elections – including primaries – have consequences. When you dissuade a grassroots and popular candidate from running, you reap what you sow. Elections are not won with structures. It is party primaries that are won with structures. Elections are won with the candidate’s popularity with the electorates and if no candidate is distinctly popular – then – the most popular party with a popular candidate wins.
In the mix of all aspirants, Murtala Ajaka has something very peculiar – something very special which stands him out as the aspirant to beat.
A governor of Kogi state must have the political experience – you must have the bureaucratic experience – you must have the intellectual preparation so that you use these tools of analysis to shape the framework of how he will govern the state. I can assure you with all modesty, Murtala Ajaka has an abundance of these qualities waiting to be dispensed for the benefit of Kogites and Kogi state.
There is BIG work in store for the next Governor of Kogi state. And I can tell you for free that Murtala Ajaka is prepared for the mammoth challenge ahead. The current administration, under the leadership of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has built a great foundation for Kogi state, and that is just the beginning. Murtala Ajaka will build on that foundation. He will be focused on Kogi state’s future.
Yakubu Ajaka is coming with the mantra to continue from where the incumbent governor has left. Ajaka is not in the race for personal and self-aggrandizement, it is purely on the need to serve – because he possesses the qualities, he possesses the experience that will enable him to deliver the service to the people of Kogi state.
By the time the March and April primary elections roll around, the only rational thing for the party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) to do will be to throw in with Murtala Yakubu Ajaka with unified support to win the party primary and move ahead to win the November 11, 2023 elections with an overwhelming landslide.
– Adams Yusuf writes from Abuja.
Email: Yusufadamsapp@yahoo.com.
