IBADAN – The last minute postponement of the primaries election for candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the forthcoming local government election in Oyo State has saved the party from being hijacked by desperate and greedy politicians who were hell-bent in installing their stooges without any recourse to the interest of the masses at the grassroots, a group of APC members, APC Grassroots Democratic Force declared in Ibadan at the weekend.
The group in a statement by its Coordinator, Pastor Olufunnso Babajide and Secretary, Jelilat Ademuyiwa, said the leadership of the party deserved to be extolled for putting the development at the grassroots above political convenience with that bold and pragmatic decision.
The APC Grassroots Democratic Force further disclosed that if the primaries had been allowed to run, APC would have suffered a huge depletion at the grassroots, a situation which would have deprived the local governments of good representation and raped the masses, benefits of democracy adding that contrary to the assertion that the rivalry between the SENACO and LAMIST was the core issue at stake, the AGDF held that the contention was far deeper bothering more on power and money politics.
Ahead of the planned primaries, the group in a statement issued in Elewura, Ibadan today confirmed that “external forces beyond Oyo State had infiltrated the state through members of National Assembly who were hell-bent in conquering their constituencies by all means; discarding established party’s structures; silencing vocal local youths and subduing their leaders.”
Jettisoning competence and capacity for the job, the members of the National Assembly were mostly concerned with their personal interests of having a total control of the councils in their constituencies, all out of desperation to ensure a return to Abuja and installing their preferred different Abuja and Ibadan based gubernatorial candidates for the state in 2019.
“As party members, we know as a matter of fact this was in sharp contrast to the well thought out position of the leader of the party and the State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi who had never minced words in telling the party hierarchy to ensure that only credible, popular and competent persons are chosen for the chairmanship and councillorship posts in order to fast track development at the grassroots.
The Governor, the AGDF claimed, also emphasized to the party executives at any given opportunity that they should ensure that potent candidates were picked for the local government election as he explained that he had instructed the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission to uphold strictly, fairness and justice in the conduct of the election.
“To our dismay”, the group alleged, “some members of the House of Representatives did not see any reason in the position of the state leader as we have witnessed them bankrolling their stooge aspirants, chairmen and councilors with Millions of Naira and materials thinking that the election was going to be a mere ruse”
The Grassroots Democratic Force said, it empathized with all the genuine aspirants across the state for the energy and resources they had put into the race maintaining that as a group “we have been reassured by the bold and pragmatic decision of the party under the leadership of Senator Abiola Ajimobi that their interests and those of our party members at the grassroots are well protected.
“We commend the governor for remaining a quintessential democrat and the greatest achiever of all times in Oyo State. We want him to always watch his back against the antics of greedy public office holders and leaders who are only interested in their personal aggrandizement against the popular wish of the people and growth of our great party “
