Osun: APC chieftain lauds party’s adoption of direct primary

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Prince Abayomi Adesanya, on Wednesday lauded the decision of the party to adopt the direct primary system to pick its governorship candidate in Osun on July 19.
Adesanya, a former Publicity Secretary of the party in Ondo State, in a statement in Lagos, said adoption of the system in Osun and in other primaries would strengthen internal democracy and promote unity in the party.
The chieftain said that the option would promote participatory democracy and reduce cases of acrimony among aspirants.
Adesanya urged all party members to support the system, as it was the right thing to do going by the constitution of the party.
He said: “The Constitution of the Party (ARTICLE 20 iii) is crystal clear on the nomination of candidates for political offices.
“The constitution states that for Local Government Chairman, State House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, Governor and President, it shall be through direct or indirect primary to be conducted at the appropriate level.
“So, direct primary is constitutional and acceptable. It will reduce acrimony, money politics and promote participatory democracy of party members.”
According to him, the only challenge with the system is that it might be abused by “unscrupulous” aspirants.
Adesanya said that it might be difficult to determine true and loyal party members at the primary.
He said: “Also, the exodus of people into the party without proper registration or rules guiding how long a person can join the party to qualify to vote in an internal election might be a problem to the new system.
“This is because there is nothing to check their loyalty or commitment to the party.”
Adesanya, therefore, advised the party leadership to urgently come up with a measure that would address the possible hijack and infiltration of the process.
The chieftain suggested the proper registration of all new members and proper upkeep of membership records.
He added: “We are pace-setters in APC. The new leadership of the party deserves our commendation and support for the new policy to thrive.”