Fr Alia: No APC governorship primaries in Benue State — Obekpa

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Owukpa district of Benue state, Architect Anthony Obekpa, has faulted the process, which produced Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia as its APC candidate in Benue State.

According to Obekpa, the exercise slated for Thursday, 26th of May 2022 did not hold across the state.

He said in a statement “no primaries election took place in Benue state. The first notice from the NWC of our party slated indirect primaries to elect a governorship and house of assembly candidates for our party in the state for Thursday, 26th of May, 2022.”

“Acting on that as the leader of the APC in Owukpa district of Ogbadibo LGA and a state delegate, I left Abuja for Makurdi to participate in the indirect primaries. While we waited till night without any sign of election, we were suddenly told that the mode of primaries has been changed to direct primary and subsequently asked to go to our various wards to vote.”

“Again, I left Makurdi to my ward in Owukpa district, in my ward, we also stayed till night on Friday, 27th of May 2022, and there were no election materials, no party electoral committee member, no accreditation of voters which made it impossible for any voting to take place. In the face of the confusion, I also got to the chairman of the party in my LGA, Hon. Abba Francis Ugwu and he was just as confused as I was.”

“He sadly disclosed to me that as chairman he received no directive or notification from the state EXCO to the effect that election was going to hold in the LGA.”

“It was a sad situation. Benue APC members were disenfranchised from participating in the process. “This illegality has betrayed every progressive ideal the party stands for, and we are compelled to invite Mr President and the National Chairman of the party to intervene.

“Recall that the Senator Abdullahi Adamu led National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had after many adjustments, finally fixed the date for governorship primaries for the 26th of May, 2022, clearly stating that the election would be by Indirect primary (Better put by state delegates). Confusion however set in in states like Benue, Osun and Abia were on the eve of the election, a letter signed by the national chairman and secretary of the party, informed INEC that it would go by direct primaries, a situation that did not only disenfranchised many delegates who were already gathered at Makurdi, headquarters of the state, in the case of Benue state but also left them stranded.

“Many of the aggrieved aspirants who already made preparations for the indirect primary have also written petitions to the National Working Committee of the party, insisting that the legal requirements for direct primaries were not met in the case of Benue and therefore, called for the intervention of the party chairman to avoid the case of Zamfara and recently Anambra states where flawed party primaries led to the nullification of the candidates of the parties,” he alleged.