A group of concerned Stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State have warned the leadership of the party against the imposition of a candidate purportedly through consensus as it called for the conduct of direct primaries.
It warned that the party might eventually lose out if aggrieved aspirants challenged the imposed consensus candidate in court.
This was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday in Ibadan by its leader, Dr Bamidele Atiba.
According to the statement, the APC risked having no governorship candidate in Oyo state if a consensus governorship candidate was imposed on the members.
The warning is coming against the backdrop of a meeting allegedly held in Abuja on May 8, called by the leadership of the party with some governorship aspirants from the state in attendance.
The stakeholders added that aspirants must not be forced to adopt a consensus arrangement for the 2027 election.
They urged the state APC Chairman, Chief Moses Adeyemo, to avoid actions that could deepen divisions and jeopardise the party’s chances in the forthcoming poll.
Atiba said the Electoral Act and party guidelines provide for direct primaries where consensus fails, which he said President Bola Tinubu had also supported.
Describing the alleged Abuja meeting by the state chairman as “a show of shame,” Atiba said the group still respects Adeyemo, but would not accept any move to undermine direct primaries.
He said that not even up to one per cent of all the 2027 aspirants were invited for the meeting.
He claimed that the President was not aware of what he described as a “sponsored meeting”, saying the wish of the masses must prevail above the personal interest of anyone.
Atiba vowed that stakeholders would attend another meeting scheduled for Thursday but would reject any attempt to push consensus.
“We will attend Thursday’s meeting called by the chairman, but he should never talk about the adoption of consensus.
“We will vehemently reject any attempt to truncate direct primaries in picking the party’s governorship candidate in Oyo,” Atiba said.
He, however, said that forcing all 2027 aspirants into a consensus arrangement would be rejected at the meeting, stressing that the group stood for direct primaries and internal democracy within the party.