Some stakeholders in the Oyo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have warned that the adoption of consensus as a way of choosing candidates for the 2027 election is capable of backfiring against the party.
The stakeholders from Ibadan South West and North West made the assertion on Tuesday, in the state’s capital, calling on the APC leadership to allow a level playing field for all the prospective aspirants to try their luck.
They made their position known, in a letter signed by 35 constituents from the local government areas, saying APC must listen to them of face the reality of losing the next election in the state.
Their position comes on the back of the decision of the ruling APC to allow its candidate for next year’s election, to emerge through consensus arrangement.
The party’s decision also followed the provision in the Electoral Act that candidates should emerge thorough direct primary and consensus.
But the stakeholders from the two local governments said chosen candidates through consensus will amount to imposition, warning that the decision is capable of jeopardizing the party’s chances in the next election, if not reverse.
They warned APC to reverse the decision to avoid suffering “humiliating defeats” saying imposing candidates will come at a a high cost for the party.
The letter read: “The Electoral Act of 2026 (as amended) stipulates that the aspirants jostling for the elective offices should emerge as candidates through ‘Direct primaries or consensus within the aspirants’.
“However, inasmuch as we subscribe to this position, we, the leaders of both local governments, believe imposition in any form without the consensus arrangement by the leaders and stakeholders may spell doom as it will not be in our interest for unpopular candidates to take undue advantages to enter through back door.
“In retrospect, the party has always suffered humiliating defeats whenever candidates were imposed. Good references were our recurring failures at the polls in 2019 and 2023, respectively. In those election cycles referenced, the imposed candidate, Honourable Saheed Fijabi of the APC, was defeated twice by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Honourable Dhikrulahi Stanley Olajide.
“We should also take a cue from what happened during the bye-election conducted to fill the vacant seat of Ibadan North Federal constituency, where a candidate was imposed on the party members.
“The members went to the poll divided and this led to a monumental failure for our party.
“Consequent upon these experiences, the critical stakeholders within the constituency have deemed it imperative to alert the national headquarters of our party to avert the impending doom of imposing candidates on the party for the 2027 general election.
“Rather, the party should adhere to the principles of constitutional democracy by conducting “direct primaries” in which all members shall participate.
‘This is the only way through which the party can avert bitterness and acrimony among the members, including possible protest votes.”
Meanwhile, the magazine had earlier reported that major stakeholders of the APC had, according to sources, agreed on Senator Sarafadeen Ali as the party’s governorship candidate in the next year’s election, at a recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
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