TheCable

Tanko Al-Makura, governor of Nasarawa, is under pressure to shift the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Ekiti state to Sunday, TheCable can report.

The primary election was disrupted when it first held on Saturday. Some delegates and representatives of aspirants had alleged that the exercise was fraudulent.

Subsequently, Friday was fixed by the national body of the party for a fresh round of voting.

Not less than 27 out of 33 aspirants had wanted Al-Makura replaced as the chairman of the electoral committee assigned for the primary, but the national body of the party insisted that he conducts the fresh election.

An official in Al-Makura’s committee told TheCable on Thursday that some aspirants are “keen on making trouble”.

“We almost went back halfway from Akure, because some aspirants went on air to now say they will not have the election on Friday, that they want it on Sunday,” the official said.

“The people are really keen on making sure they bring trouble. We are trying to have a meeting now so that we can decide formally and finally, because this thing is not children’s play, and this is not helping the party.

“I know that, of course, the PDP within the party wants to leave, and they’ve been having their members cause crisis all over the country. They want to quickly rejoin their other members in the PDP, and that is why they’ve been looking for all the excuses.”

The official told TheCable that a meeting is ongoing, and after an hour, the committee would issue a press statement.

“We are yet to decide if it would hold on Friday or Sunday, but we will know that in an hour. There has been consultation all night with the chairman and other stakeholders,” the official said.

On Tuesday, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) conducted a hitch-free primary election in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. Supervised by Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta state, the election produced Kolapo Olusola as the winner.

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, had mocked the APC, asking the party to hire Okowa for a smooth primary.

The APC has until Tuesday, May 15 to submit the name of its candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).