These crises have led to a crack in the leadership walls of the main opposition party, as aggrieved members have splintered into different factions as the party’s primary race intensifies.
Tensions have risen within the Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) as members argue for and against the total dissolution of the party’s State Executive Council (SEC) in order to pave way for a new one that would conduct primaries in September ahead of the November 26, 2016 gubernatorial election.
This has led certain members of the party to call for the total dissolution of the party’s “super-delegates,” numbering over one thousand, that are slated to participate and elect the APC governorship candidate at the party’s primary election while opining that holding a “fresh congress” for the election of new party delegates would further help promote internal democracy.
Our correspondent reported that some of the members are also claiming that zoning the party’s governorship ticket to the northern part of the State where most of its supporters live would help win the gubernatorial election against the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but others have kicked against this, noting that zoning is alien to the camp of the opposition party in the State.
These crises have led to a crack in the leadership walls of the main opposition party, as aggrieved members have splintered into different factions as the party’s primary race intensifies.
Some of the aggrieved members of the party who have been speaking to our correspondent disclosed that the sole reason for supporting the dissolution of the SEC and the elimination of super-delegates and the zoning arrangement was to give room for the integration of new members, mostly the supporters of some heavyweights who recently defected to the main opposition party to be delegates.
In a statement signed by the trio of the party’s governorship aspirants, Derin Adesida, Olusola Oke and Victor Olambitan, the party stated that the overall success and well-being of the APC should come first in all the thoughts and actions of its members and supporters.
In the joint statement obtained by SaharaReporters, the party further claimed that despite the fact that constituting a new SEC and electing new delegates would give them an added advantage during the primaries, they still preferred retaining the present members.
“Today more than ever before, the APC is being perceived by the people of Ondo State, including its arch-rival, PDP, as the party with the brightest chance to form the next government in the State as a result of our collective hard work and the maladministration of the present government.
“We are aware of agitation in some quarters for the composition of a fresh congress purportedly to create a level playing ground for both old and new APC members, especially the aspirants and their teeming supporters.
“The present executives (delegates) have been elected before some of us joined All Progressive Congress. Despite the fact that newly constituted executives-cum-delegates would put us at an advantage during the Governorship primaries, it is not in our character to pursue personal interest at the detriment of party interest. We should rejoice in our collective victory and not individual interest.
“As loyal party men, we believe in the unity and oneness of the party. Therefore we will prefer the party make use of the present executives (delegates) for the forthcoming primary election.
“We took this decision because of our knowledge and understanding of the usual… rancor and fracas that are always associated with delegates’ elections. We are convinced that such a step portends greater danger than any good to the party at the moment.
“Therefore to avoid the creation of unnecessary bottlenecks for the party it is better for all aspirants to work with the present executives (delegates),” their statement read in part.
Speaking to a SaharaReporters correspondent in a chat, some concerned members of the party said that zoning the party’s governorship ticket to a particular zone in the State would further cause crisis and license the “imposition of candidates” on the people by the party’s national leadership and investors. They further reiterated that zoning the governorship ticket of the party is alien to the members and code of ethics.
“Those [members] agitating for zoning the party’s ticket to one particular zone or the other should bury the idea if they surely want to win this November governorship election, because the ruling Peoples Democratic Party that we are aiming to wrestle power from are working underground day and night.
“Aside this, zoning is strange to us in the Ondo APC and if they go ahead with it they are trying to create problems because there is no way that we would scale the heavy cage of imposing candidates if such an idea is help to scale through.
“I will better appeal to the party’s national leaders to shelve and reject any call for such an idea because it could lead the party to failure and victory for the incumbent.
“Let the party give room for free and fair primary elections to all aspirants who have shown interest to contest the party’s ticket… This is just my own advice for the leaders,” he said.
Some prominent leaders of the party told SaharaReporters that clamoring for the party’s ticket to be zoned to the northern district would benefit the many aspirants from the region jostling for the party’s ticket.
“I think some are clamoring for the party’s ticket to be zoned to the northern area of the State because half of the aspirants hail from the area and they feel that coming out with a consensus would prevent them from splitting the vote from the region during the party’s primary.
“So, out of the numerous aspirants from the northern region, let us choose and rally support for one person while others step down and back anybody that must have been chosen. This should be a collective decision for people from this area because the people from this area have been abandoned and marginalized for a long time,” one of the leaders said.
Our correspondent also gathered that some leaders of the party have been supporting a particular aspirant from the northern district of the State due to his influence with national leaders of the party in Lagos and Abuja, although sources close to the State Chairman of the party, Isaacs Kekemeke, revealed that the leadership of the party would soon meet over the issue in order to close ranks among the aggrieved members.