Lauretta Onochie Labels APC Edo Governorship Primary a Disgrace

Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s ex-aide on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, has described the just-concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Edo State as a disgrace to the party.

Onochie lamented the hijacking of the APC by certain individuals, who now dictate the party’s leadership.
The primary election aimed at selecting the APC’s gubernatorial candidate for the upcoming election produced three different candidates.

The chairman of the primary election committee, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, declared Dennis Idahosa the winner of the exercise, while the Returning Officer for the primary, Stanley Ugboaja, declared Senator Monday Okpebholo as the APC candidate.

The crisis further deepened on Sunday as Anamero Dekeri became the third aspirant to claim victory in Saturday’s governorship primary.
Ojo Babatunde, who claimed to represent all the local government returning officers, stated that Dekeri polled 25,384 votes to win the contest.

However, posting on X, Onochie wrote: “APC must be different. I am so ashamed, embarrassed and scandalised by the disgraceful conduct of our APC in the Edo State Primary, where four Candidates have now emerged.

“We are Progressives, for heaven’s sake! This is what happens when a few unwholesome men hijack a political party and dictate who should run, taking that role from the people.

“Why is APC bent on keeping the South South a PDP territory? Each time we have an opportunity to field a winning candidate, PDP agents in APC ensure that APC fields an inferior candidate who does not stand a chance of winning the PDP candidate. It happened in Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom

“OfficialAPCNg must recover our party from traders and work with core progressives in the region to give Nigerians in general and South South in particular, a decent alternative to the messed up PDP.

“At the moment, I look at the two political parties and APC is looking more like PDP than a Progressive political party.

“In conclusion, I believe that the current situation where women are excluded from leadership in APC, does the party no good. A situation where the National woman leader and state woman leaders are nominated by men, ensures that women are not adequately represented in the party. You can’t clap with one hand.”

Kanyi Daily recalls that Dennis Idahosa, a member of the House of Representatives, had been chosen as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the upcoming Edo State governorship election set for September 21, 2024.