By Our correspondent
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, has warned billionaire aspirants in Anambra State vying for the party’s gubernatorial ticket not to buy their way into the primary election scheduled for April 5, 2025.
Ganduje advised the aspirants not to use their wealth to influence the primary election but instead to strengthen the party in the state.
He made this statement in Abuja during a courtesy visit by a support group, ‘Booth to Booth with Bola Tinubu’.
The chairman reassured that the APC would conduct a free, fair, and transparent primary election.
“As a party, if we are to have a good primary in the state, all our stakeholders must be fully committed.
We have told them that this time around, business should not be as usual. Let us support the system.”
Ganduje further cautioned the billionaire aspirants, saying, “We know they are very rich and have a lot of money, but they should not use it to disrupt the state. They should use their wealth to develop the state and build the APC.”
He expressed his desire to see the aspirants produce a consensus candidate, promising an award if they succeed.
“In fact, I will be highly interested if they can produce a consensus candidate, and if they do, I will give them an award.”
The chairman also addressed the mode of primary election, saying, “You mentioned the options of direct or indirect primaries.
As an institution, I assure you, we will meet, and the National Working Committee, in conjunction with the party’s leadership, will decide on the method for the primary.”
Earlier, Iyke Madu, National Coordinator of the support group, urged the National Working Committee to adopt the indirect mode of primary to elect the party’s candidate due to the insecurity in the state.
Madu stated, “There is an issue of insecurity in Anambra as we speak. Even the state government could not conduct their own local government elections due to insecurity. They wrote to certain communities, informing them that elections could not be held in those areas due to insecurity.”
He argued that it would be challenging for the party to hold direct primaries in the state, given the security concerns.
“We believe that if the state government cannot conduct local government elections because of insecurity, it will be difficult for a party that does not control the state to hold direct primaries.”
Madu, therefore, requested that the party consider adopting indirect primaries, as allowed by the party’s constitution.
