There are indications that there is serious tension in the Kogi State Chapter of the All
Progressives Congress, APC, as the party prepares for its governorship primary election slated
for Lokoja Township Stadium, Lokoja, on Saturday, the 29th of August, as speculations are rife
that notable chieftains of the party are pressure on some aspirants to step down.
The Kogi State governorship election comes up on November 21, 2015.
According to sources in the party, chieftains of the party, who feel the current
number of aspirants, put at 28 is unhealthy for the party and may lead to crisis in
the aftermath of the primaries, are appealing to some aspirants, considered as
lightweights and others believed to be capable of playing the spoiler to step
down.
A source in the party confided in DAILY POST that the National Leader of the
APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, alongside others have been making frantic
efforts to ensure that the number of aspirants is pruned down to a manageable
seven for a healthy primary election.
“Asiwaju Tinubu has been in Abuja since yesterday trying to see how to get some
of the candidates to step down from the race. Having 28 aspirants for a single
slot is considered unhealthy for a party that is trying to dislodge an incumbent
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governor in the state and it believed that
everything has to be done to ensure that sanity is maintained”, the source said.
Asked why the party did not reduce the number during its screening exercise, the
source said: “It would been arbitrary to do so since those certified were qualified
to stand for election. The party can only disqualify a candidate if he is not
qualified. Besides, doing so would have compounded the problem as those
arbitrarily disqualified may turn around to work against the party out of anger.
“What is been done at the moment is a subtle appeal for some of the aspirants to
step down. It is not an order but an appeal to common sense and in the overall
interest of the party. Nobody will be forced to step down; it is not compulsory,
but what the leaders are doing is to make sure things are done in a healthy
manner,” he said.
To buttress the speculation that last minute clandestine meetings were ongoing to
prune down the number of aspirants, none of the aspirants for Saturdays
Primaries is in the state capital yet, as they are said to be held back in Abuja to
attend to some important meetings.
Those contacted on the telephone by DAILY POST confirmed that they are still in
Abuja and may arrive the state capital later Thursday night or Friday morning.
Also a visit to the Party’s secretariat near the Local Government secretariat in
Lokoja shows that all may not be well as the secretariat looks more like a ghost
town, with only a couple of low level staff seen milling around the almost empty
car park.
One of the staff at the secretariat confided in DAILY POST that the state
Chairman and Secretary of the party were out to attend to some important
engagements. He however declined to confirm if they were away in Abuja for the
alleged last minute meetings.

source : dailypost.ng/2015/08/27/kogi-guber-anxiety-as-apc-chieftains-pressure-aspirants-to-step-down-ahead-of-primaries/

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