PORT HAR-COURT—All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has adopted indirect primaries to elect its candidates for the 2019 general election. APC The decision followed reports of insecurity in the state and lack of a coordinated membership data base for supporters of the party in the state as presented by the party’s executives.
The state APC took the decision at an expanded State Executive Committee meeting in Port Harcourt, yesterday, in which 106 voted in favour of the indirect primaries against three and one who voted for consensus and direct primaries respectively. Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, Chairman of the Party, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, said the party after a long deliberation resolved to adopt indirect primaries. Amachree said:
“After the meeting of the expanded executives of the party, we decided to use indirect primaries in electing our candidates. The reasons for this decision are because of issues of insecurity in the state and the lack of membership data base. We will transmit this decision to the national body of the party.” Meanwhile, the Senator representing Rivers East in the National Assembly, Sen. Andrew Uchendu, described the resolution as apt. He said: “We may not have a safe venue where we will have security for direct primaries. You know there is a government here in the state that does not want to see APC.
That may be an avenue for attacks. “It will be good that we spread out so that if they try to attack us, before they will attack two places, security men would have taken charge.” Also, former leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr Chidi Lloyd, said direct primaries would have caused disaffection in the party, adding that indirect primary was safe and less expensive to organise.
Source: Vanguard
