The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, has made it known that the party is fully prepared to conduct free, fair and credible direct primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Adeyemo gave the assurance on Monday while receiving members of the party’s Screening and Appeal Committees deployed from the party’s national secretariat in Abuja to the Oyo APC Secretariat at Oke-Ado, Ibadan.
The former deputy governor revealed that the party remained committed to internal democracy and fairness, stressing that all aspirants seeking the party’s tickets would be given equal opportunities in line with the principles of progressivism and constitutional democracy.
He said, efforts were initially made to achieve consensus arrangements across board, but indications available to the party showed that direct primaries might become necessary in some categories, including the governorship race.
“We set machineries in motion to achieve consensus across board, but reports available to me indicate that we may have to adopt the option of direct primary in certain cases, including the governorship ticket,” he said.
Adeyemo explained that the national secretariat of the party would deploy officials from Abuja to supervise the primary elections, while the state chapter would provide the necessary support to ensure smooth and transparent exercises.
He added that all registered party members would participate in the process at their various wards, noting that affirmation would be adopted where consensus candidates emerge, while voting would be conducted in areas where direct primaries become necessary.
“Either through consensus or direct primaries, every registered party member will be involved. Members will gather at their respective wards on the dates fixed by the national secretariat for each elective position,” he stated.
Speaking earlier, Chairman of the Screening Committee and former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Taofiq AbdusSalam, assured party members that the committee would carry out a thorough and transparent screening exercise, noting that only qualified aspirants would be cleared to contest for the party’s tickets in the forthcoming elections.
Other members of the Screening Committee include Kamal Sanusi, Smart Oluwole, Tunde Kolade and Olabamiji Agunloye, while the Appeal Committee is made up of Jibola Oduwole, Abimbola Jack and Jelil Jimoh.
