John Adams, Minna
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, in Niger State, Mr. Jonathan Vasta, has told the party candidates vying for various offices in the 2019 general elections that “automatic ticket does not translate to automatic votes”.
Vatsa, in his twitter and other social media handles, in Minna, at the weekend, said that the “so called automatic ticket” given to some candidates by the party has made the 2019 elections more difficult for the party win.
“We have automatic ticket but we don’t have automatic votes. And we should know that with the automatic tickets everywhere now, the job has been made more difficult.
“To me I think is the electorate that have the final say with their votes. The party has spoken with the automatic ticket all over the place, but the people will have the final say.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand and that is the situation we have at hand now. It will be difficult. My mind tells me that it will not be like 2015”.
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This submission by the former publicity Secretary of the party in the state is not unconnected with the statewide protests and acrimonies that have characterised the outcome of the party primaries in the state and other parts of the country.
Vatsa ruled out the possibility of the reconciliation committee set up by the National Working Committee (NWC) to achieve any meaningful result before the general election.
“I see the party reconciliation committee going the way of similar committees in the past. This is my fear for the party,” he submitted.
Although some aggrieved members of the party have challenged the substitution of their names in courts, Vatsa feared that “these aggrieved members might work against the party at the general election”.