Boroffice noted that “in spite of proponents of indirect primaries in Ondo APC [belonging] to a minority group, it is necessary to address their concerns

Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure

APC senator representing Ondo North Senatorial district Prof. Ajayi Boroffice has stated that proponents of indirect primary in Ondo State are a minority of the party.

READ ALSO: 2019: Boroffice solicits support for Buhari

Boroffice said this in a statement issued by his media aide, Kayode Fakuyi, pointing out that the idea of an indirect primary represents the opinion of a minority state party members.

According to him “majority of party leaders, members and aspirants are firmly behind the resolution of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of APC that primary elections into all elective offices should be by direct primaries.”

“Instructively, the opinion of the minority cannot alter the resolution of NEC. To say Ondo APC has adopted the opinion of the minority is incorrect. The opinion of the minority is not the opinion of Ondo APC. Thus, in Ondo APC, the majority will have their way while the minority will have their say,” he stated.

Boroffice’s statement further elaborated that:

“In spite of the fact that proponents of indirect primaries in Ondo APC belong to [the] minority group, it is necessary to address their concerns and fears because party members and the electorate deserve to know the truth.

“They have raised three issues namely; availability of comprehensive membership register of APC, security concern and the incapacity of Ondo State Government to fund direct primaries.

Related News

“On the issue of availability of comprehensive membership register of APC, it is surprising that some supposed party leaders lack basic information about the party.

“Nevertheless, whether they are genuinely ignorant or deliberately mischievous, the fact is that the database of all registered members of APC in Nigeria is in custody of the National Secretariat of APC.

“For new members of APC, provisions have been made for them to register as party members through the ongoing membership registration exercise across states in the country.

“On security concern, it is a matter of public record that the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has scheduled 1st of December,2018 for elections in the 18 Local Government Areas of Ondo State. Before fixing the date, ODIEC had considered security concerns. Ondo State is peaceful. Also, Ondo State is neither a violent state, nor a volatile state.

READ ALSO: Ondo holds LG polls Dec. 1

“Thus, it is unpatriotic for anyone to present Ondo State as unsafe to the world and investors in particular because of personal and political interests. Evidently, Ondo State is safe for the conduct of hitch-free direct primaries.

“On the incapacitation of Ondo State Government to fund direct primaries, Obviously, this line of thought is strange. It is not the responsibility of Ondo State Government to fund the direct primaries of the APC. The general public is invited to note that the APC, as a responsible party, has concluded arrangements as regards the funding of direct primaries. The funding of party primaries is the responsibility of the APC and the APC has taken charge of its responsibility.

“Meanwhile, it is important to register disagreement with Senator Tayo Alasoadura who was quoted to have described direct primary as evil and corrupt act. The senator is free to pursue and advance his convictions but the demonization of direct primary is surprising.

“In case Senator Alasoadura is not aware, President Muhammadu Buhari championed direct primary in order to sanitize the election process and avert a situation whereby some delegates get as much as N1.5 million each as precondition to vote for aspirant. As a matter of fact, direct primary is an anti-corruption approach to sanitize the electoral system,” he added.

READ ALSO: It’ll take APC 10-yrs to correct PDP’s evils, says Sen. Alasoadura