APC to hold fresh primary to replace Audu

In from Timothy Enietan-Matthews (Nation’s capital) . . .
The All Progressives Congress (APC} Tuesday said it would organise a fresh primary election to choose a replacement for its late governorship candidate for the Kogi State election.
This was stated by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun at a news conference in Abuja, who said that the leadership of the party will hold an emergency session “within the next few hours” to determine the modalities for the primary.
According to Odigie-Oyegun, INEC had written to the party to fill the vacancy created by Audu’s death, stressing that the party will do everything possible to ensure that the preference of the people of Kogi State replaces the late Audu as the party’s candidate.
“INEC has made a pronouncement as to the election being inconclusive, but as at this moment, we are yet to get anything in writing from INEC specifying the details of the polling units that are involved and a clear definition of whether we are talking about, in their consideration, about registered voters or those with permanent voter cards. But those are matters of details and when we get them from INEC, we will proceed from that point.
“Also, the chief law officer of the federation has made his views known on how things should develop from this stage and he has made a pronouncement to the effect that all that is required is for the APC to go through the process of providing a substitute to our late mourned candidate.
“The implication being that thereafter, the supplement election to conclude the process of electing a new governor for Kogi State will then be put in place.

Read also: Kogi: INEC tells APC to name replacement for Audu

“So, as a party, we are going to proceed with the process of organising primary to provide a substitute candidate for Prince Abubakar Audu. That is the situation at this point in time.
“I want to underscore the fact that INEC is also apparently in agreement with the views of the Attorney General because we have already received a letter from them formally asking us to find a replacement for the vacancy that has been created by the passing on of Prince Abubakar Audu and that is what will now engage the APC from this moment on.”
Speaking on when the primary will be held, the APC chairman said: “We just got notification from INEC today. So, we will go into an emergency session now to work out the modalities and nature of the primary within the next few hours. We are told that the supplementary election will be on December 5th”.
Odigie-Oyegun however declined to comment on the possibility of aspirants buying forms or whether the party will give preference to those who contested the party’s primaries with late Abubakar Audu, insisting that those were matters of details for the party leadership.

Meanwhile the PDP in a statement strongly condemned the decision to allow the APC pick a new candidate to conclude the elections.

The party, reacting through its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh in a statement issued in Abuja demanded the resignation of Malami as Minister of Justice and Prof. Mahmud Yakubu as INEC chairman as the party alleged a conspiracy between the two to derail the democratic enterprise.

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