The former National Vice Chairman, North-west of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman has said that National Working Committee (NWC) of the party usurped the powers of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in adopting direct primary election to produce the governorship candidate of APC in Edo.
The leadership of the party had last Monday met with Edo APC stakeholders where they agreed to adopt direct primary. The ruling party scheduled the primary election for February 17.
Lukman in a statement on Sunday maintained that the decision of the NWC to organise direct primary contradicts provisions of Article 13.4(iv) of the APC constitution.
He said the provision only empowers the NWC to ‘propose electoral guidelines and regulations governing the conduct of elections to party offices at all levels, and procedure for selecting party candidates for elective offices …to the National Executive Committee.
Lukman described the decision of the NWC of the party to adopt direct primary election to produce the governorship candidate of APC in Edo state as illegal.
He said: “The recent decision by the APC National Working Committee (NWC) regarding the 2024 Edo election, whereby the NWC announced that the party’s candidate will emerge through direct primary may be informed by the strong desire of party leaders to manipulate the process.”
“We must appeal to our leaders, including Comrade Adams Oshiomhole not to be carried away by the aura of being today’s rulers and conduct themselves in the same mode previous rulers of Nigeria conducted themselves.”
Lukman added that issues of maintaining a verifiable membership register is a condition precedent for the conduct of direct primary by any political party.
He noted that experiences under APC is that direct primary is being conducted without verifiable membership register, which empowers party leaders to simply write results in favour of aspirants they want to emerge as candidates for elections