SUNDAY OGLI, Makurdi
THERE are indications that the All Progressives Congress APC Governorship Primaries Appeal Panel sitting on Monday in Makurdi, the state capital may cancel the governorship primary election held in the state last Friday, May 27, 2022.
Recall that the APC adopted the direct mode of election which produced the Catholic cleric, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
However, the process and outcome of the election have generated petitions before the party’s appeal panel as some of the prominent governorship aspirants in the party described the exercise as a sham and a charade.
The aggrieved aspirants, including Senator Barnabas Gemade, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, Prof Terhemba Shija and Dr Mathias Ibyuan were also said to have told the Panel on Monday that the entire process was an aberration and called for its cancellation.
Senator Gemade was said to have argued thus: “We are all members of this party and we really want it to become a winning party not just an opposition party and the only way it may become a winning party here is if things are done properly and there is still a window to do things properly now that INEC has extended the time to 6th & 7th of May.”
On his part, Chief Aondoakaa, SAN was said to have called for justice, arguing that the APC guber primary was not free, fair and transparent, even as he was said to have emphasised that they have been funding the party and therefore should not be treated shabbily.
“When it was time to fund the party, Leader (Senator George Akume) asked I, Gemade and Byuan to do so. We taxed ourselves to fund the Ward, Local Government and State Congresses.
“Then from nowhere, someone who wasn’t even part of the process was smuggled in and they went and manufactured votes and gave it to him.
“We feel humiliated and cheated. We demand justice. Let the right thing be done. Let there be free, fair and transparent primaries in APC in Benue State.
“If the so-called person was so popular, why didn’t they ask him to bring the money to fund the processes instead of asking us to do so?
“I am a Catholic but can they hold an election in a place like Kano or Zamfara and then go and bring an Imam from nowhere to come and hijack the process? That can never happen and we will not accept it here too,” Aondoakaa was said to have stated.
Also speaking, Prof Terhemba Shija, was said to have pointed out that “This primary election is a sham; it is a charade, it is an aberration and should not be allowed to stand.”
Reacting to the issues raised by the aggrieved aspirants, Chairperson of the Appeals Panel, Princess Uzoama Onyema, was said to have expressed displeasure over the injustice meted out on some of the guber aspirants and emphasized that the APC State leadership failed to conduct a just and fair primaries.
“Benue APC Publicity Secretary, take this message to your Chairman, you people have failed us.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have come to a final conclusion. I wish you all what you wish yourselves. If you wish to do injustice, you will fail, if you wish to do good, you do good. It is up to you whether you want to win this state or you want to lose it.
“We have come, we have seen, we have heard and we will deliver our bombshell according to justice with the fear of God,” she stated,” Onyema was said to have stated.