BY Dyepkazah Shibayan
John Oyegun, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says there is nothing wrong if Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a national leader of the party, endorses any governorship aspirant in the Ondo primary election.
Tunji Abayomi, an aspirant, had said that Tinubu’s endorsement of Segun Abraham was an attempt to interfere with the election.
Tinubu, in response to him, said that he had a right to endorse any candidate amongst the aspirants seeking to clinch the governorship ticket.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday after a closed door meeting with the Ondo governorship aspirants, Oyegun said there was no attempt by the party to impose any aspirant in the primary election.
“We have all accepted that there is nothing wrong in anybody being a member of the party or non-member endorsing any of the aspirants,” he said.
“We have also accepted unanimously that there will be no attempt on the part of the party to impose any aspirant on the party and on the electorates of Ondo state.”
“We have done the very clear distinction between endorsement and imposition. I want to state in very clear terms and assure all the aspirants that the party at national level has n preferred aspirant and is jot going to endorse any aspirant.
“They are all equal members of the party who have entrusted us with the management of the affair of their party. So, we have the responsibility to be as impartial as is humanly possible.”
Oyegun pointed out that the APC had no preferred candidate at the state or federal level.
He promised that the party would make available “a clean copy of the delegate list” to all aspirants by Wednesday.
“I have given the assurance that the original list has been in safe custody and that aspirants should please discontinuance all rumour in Ondo state of another delegate list,” Oyegun said.
“When it is refined, it will be handed over to the chairman of the primary committee that will conduct the primary who will be one of the governors of the APC and that is the only list that will be used for the purpose of the primary.”
The national chairman said he was happy that “once a free, fair primary can be assured, they will rally round whoever is chosen by the delegate as the candidate of the party.”
Also speaking to journalists, Abayomi who in an open letter had said Tinubu was interfering with the party’s primary election when he endorsed Abraham, said all he wanted was to ensure that the APC in Ondo had no preferred candidate.
“If Asiwaju Tinubu has endorsed somebody, it is not the same thing as an endorsement by the APC and therefore the chairman of the party has clarified it. APC has not endorsed anybody and in fact as a matter of ethics, no exco member is expected to be on the side of any particular aspirant, they are all expected to. Be treated equally you cannot treat equals unequally or unequals equally,” he said.
“Tinubu is free to support anyone but that is different from somebody inviting the apparatus of the party and asking them that this is the candidate of the party.”
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