Video: Primaries don’t decide candidates, APC leadership does, says national secretary

By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Ajibola Basiru, stated that the party’s primary elections are not the definitive mechanism for selecting candidates; instead, the party hierarchy makes the final decisions.

He made the comments in a video that circulated widely on social media, where he appeared to be conducting a meeting with party members.

In the video, Basiru spoke in Yoruba and explained that the names of the party’s candidates for President, Senate, and the House of Representatives will be uploaded by the National Secretariat. He dismissed claims that some aspirants failed to win a primary as a joke.

“If you claim candidate(s) did not win primary, who will upload the name(s), it is mere child’s play. Claims that someone emerge in primary is a ruse, we know there is no primary,” he said. “We don’t hold primary in our party. We pick those that we want to pick. The claim of a winner of a primary is false.”

During the clip, he asked a former lawmaker whether he had emerged through a primary election; the lawmaker replied that he was chosen within the government house.

A statement released from the meeting indicated that the APC scribe warned party members against insulting or abusing civil servants in the state, emphasizing their importance to the party’s success in the upcoming August 15 governorship poll.

“Civil servants are enlightened people. They are respected in their communities, and people listen to them because they understand governance and leadership. I have enormous respect for them, and nobody has the authority to insult them in the name of our party,” he said.

Basiru appealed to state workers not to direct their grievances against the APC over comments made by individuals acting independently.

“I want to appeal to our civil servants not to use their influence against the APC because of careless statements from some individuals. Those comments are personal opinions and not the official position of our party,” he added.

He also cautioned APC members and candidates against complacency ahead of the governorship election, insisting that victory would come only through hard work, unity, and reconciliation within the party.

“I don’t believe in automatic victory. There is nothing like that in politics. We must work in every ward and every polling unit, and we must appeal to those who are aggrieved,” he said.

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