The Chairman
APC
Kogi State
Lokoja.
Sir,
PROTEST AGAINST IMPOSITION OF CANDIDATE IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY YAGBA-WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT APC PRIMARIES
We the stakeholders of Yagba-West APC wish to intimate your office of the plan by the Honourable Chairman Pius Kolawole and Hon. Karimi Stephen to scuttle the primary election for the election of candidate for APC in the next general election.
2. We want you to please assert the Constitution of the party and section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 otherwise our party may end up in not having a candidate in the next general election. Also the provision of Article 20 of our party Constitution.
3. The issue of House of Assembly in Yagba-West has a settled system of rotation. We wish to inform your office that this rotational system is sacrosanct as PDP tailored that covenant of rotation within us and picked their consensus candidate Mr. Sunday Maiyaki in ODO-ERI/OKOTO WARD which is the ward that the rotation is their turn.
Please note that the ward that the anointed candidate by name Yemisi Oshanoto is coming from has been in the House of Assembly before with the name of the occupant from Iyamerin/Igbaruku ward (Chief Alfred Dare Adebayo)
4. Hence it is the general acceptability of all stakeholders in Yagba-West LGA that Odo-Eri should field candidate.
5. It is on this note that we want free fair primary election for the House of Assembly and other primary elections.
6. We wish to state that where this is not done we cannot guarantee our success at the general election because we need a popular candidate to win our election.
Yagba-West is a very peculiar local government with high level PDP stakeholders.
This is our plight and we want strict adherence to Article 20.1 that says “All offices in the organs of the party under this Constitution shall be filled by democratically conducted elections” unless there is a consensus which is not in Yagba-West as 3 three candidates have already collected forms and submitted.
7. Also Article 20.3 says “Nomination of candidate for the office of House of Assembly/Senate/House of Representatives shall be through indirect primary election to be conducted at the appropriate level”
8. We wish to state that our party Constitution does not permit anointed candidate nor imposition but free and fair primary.
9. Finally, APC Kogi State should be guided by the provisions of section 84 (5) of the Electoral Act and ensure that a clean, clear, fair and credible primary is conducted in Yagba-West, otherwise we shall resort to the provisions of section 84 (13) and (14) of the Electoral Act 2022.
Thanks.
Signed:
Aremu Sunday
14 Wards Chairmen and Secretaries of APC.
