2019: What APC must avoid – Shehu Sani

Senator representing Kaduna central district in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani has expressed his dislike for the proposal by some All Progressives Congress, APC, governors that the ruling party should adopt indirect primaries as the mode of picking its flagbearers ahead of the 2019 general elections.

DAILY POST reports that there are fears in some quarters that the APC will experience mass defection of Senators to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, when the National Assembly reconvenes if it fails to adopt the direct primaries.

Direct primaries involves the participation of all party members in the selection of party candidates while indirect primaries involves use of delegates, often party leaders at local levels and political appointees as well as elected officials, to elect party candidates.

The APC used the direct primaries to elect its governorship candidate in Osun for next month’s governorship election. Prior to that, it often used the indirect primaries system.

However, it is no longer a secret that some governors are applying pressure on the national leadership of the party to adopt indirect primaries to choose candidates for the 2019 elections.

If the party adopts the usual indirect primary, political analysts say, about 20 or 30 Senators who have scores to settle with their state governors, may not get the party’s tickets to return to the National Assembly in 2019.

They also noted that the governors have the financial muscle and may deploy it to replace up to 90 per cent of the federal lawmakers if the party allows delegates to choose candidates for the party.

Speakin on the controversy, Shehu Sani told the media in Abuja yesterday that “indirect primaries is a boulevard to corruption. It’s a seed to imposition, manipulation and systematic desecration of the anti-corruption crusade of the government and the party.

“Indirect Primaries is a bidding process, a slave market and an auction house where price tag is placed to honour.”

Urging all members of the party to reject the method, Senator Sani described it as a “final step to consolidate a fraudulent congresses.”