Kogi poll: APC opts for fresh primaries
(Nigeria) Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC,
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Tuesday in Abuja said the party would pick a new
candidate to replace Abubakar Audu, its candidate in the governorship poll in
Kogi State.
It will be recalled that the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, on Tuesday announced
that it would conduct supplementary election in the 91 units where it cancelled
election on Saturday, on December 5.
Odigie-Oyegun made this known in a news conference and said
that leadership of the party would go into closed-door session immediately to
pick a date for a fresh primary to pick the candidate.
Audu died on Sunday and his death was announced shortly
after INEC declared the governorship
poll which was conducted in the state on Saturday inconclusive.
The commission also said that APC was at liberty to replace
its late candidate in the race.
According to Odigie-Oyegun, though mourning, APC will go
into the meeting in the next few hours to decide a date for a fresh primary to
choose another candidate to contest for the number one seat in Kogi.
He said: ``the first point I have to make of course is that
INEC has made a pronouncement as to the election being inconclusive.
“As at this moment we are yet to get anything in writing
from INEC specifying the details of the polling units that are involved. These
are matters of detail. When we get a formal notification from INEC we will
proceed on that point.
“It's in the public space already that the chief law officer
of the republic has made his views known on how things should develop from this
stage on. He has made a pronouncement to
the effect that all that is required is for the APC to go through the processes
of providing a substitute to our late candidate.
``The implication being that thereafter the supplementary
elections to conclude the process of electing a new governor of Kogi state will
be put in place. So as a party we going to proceed with the process of
organising a primary to provide a substitute candidate to the late Abubakar
Audu.’’
The chairman explained that because INEC had also said that
the party was at liberty to pick a fresh candidate for the rescheduled
election, ‘’that is why we are pressed for time’’.
`` We just got the letter today; we don’t have the luxury of
time; we are going to go through a due process to ensure we pick a candidate in
a matter of hours.
He added that the running mate to the candidate that would
emerge would be a ‘’matter for the electors to decide and the party will
respect their decision on who the next running mate will be.”
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