By Sikiru Obarayese
As against dates fixed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) National leadership for its primary elections across states ahead of 2019, the party has shifted primaries in Osun until after the September 22 governorship election.
The APC had fixed 15th September for the State House of Assemblies, 19th September for House of Representatives, 23rd September for Senate, 28th September for Governorship and 6th October for Presidential primaries.
Fixing of the dates, which class with the time zone for the Osun governorship election has continued to raise fear among party members that the outcome might make or mar the chances of the party at the poll.
The fear, it was gathered might not be unconnected with the fact that some aspirants, after losing the primaries might decide to defect to another party and work against APC, just as it happened during the party’s governorship primary held in July .
However, the fear had been allayed by the state chapter of the party that no primary election would hold in the state until after the September 22 governorship poll.
The state Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr Kunle Oyatomi said, the state chapter of the party is being carried along on the arrangement and it has been sealed.
In a telephone chat with OSUN DEFENDER, Oyatomi said, “We have been carried along and it has been sealed that no primary election will hold in Osun until after the September 22 governorship election.
According to him, that was the major reason congresses in Osun and Ekiti were postponed, saying, just as it happened during the congresses across the states of the country, the same scenario would be repeated.
Asked whether the postponement of the primaries was meant to prevent defection by aspirants and their supporters who might not be comfortable with the outcome of the primaries, he said, there is nothing to fear about whether the primary is conducted earlier or not.
He said: “There is nothing to fear about, it is just that we can’t do two things at the same time”.
“We have a lot to do during the governorship election in Osun and lumping the election with the primaries of the party would not be good enough. After the election, we will have our congresses and then primary elections later”.
