Edo 2024: APC Faults Ihonvbere Panel, Says Ticket Open To All

The All Progressives Congress has opposed the report of an internal committee of the party in Edo State, headed by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, which pruned the number of aspirants for the upcoming governorship election in the state to two per senatorial district.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed September 21, 2024 for the governorship election.

In a statement, which did not directly address the pruning of the aspirants by the Ihonvbere committee, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, said the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for the Edo State governorship election is available for purchase and collection to all interested aspirants.

IN the statement on Friday, Morka said screening and clearance of aspirants would be undertaken by a committee to be constituted by the party’s National Working Committee in accordance with its constitution.

He said: “As stipulated in the released APC timetable and schedule of activities for Edo gubernatorial election, all interested aspirants are to make prescribed payments into the party’s approved bank accounts.

“They are to collect their Expression of Interest and Nomination forms from the party’s National Secretariat.”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that out of the party’s 29 governorship aspirants, only one has picked the APC Expression of Interest and Nomination forms, which are being sold for N50 million.

Duro Meseko, the party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, at a recent news conference announced that the APC planned to adopt direct primaries to select candidates for the election.

Meseko said the decision was reached at the end of the party’s NWC consultative meeting with Edo State stakeholders.

He urged the stakeholders to unite in trimming down the number of aspirants already in the race and to play by the rules.

He advised them to explore internal party dispute resolution mechanisms instead of dragging the party to court at the slightest opportunity.