Ebun Francis|
Clement Ebri, chairman of the primary election committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state, on Monday, said the APC primaries held earlier in the day was cancelled because the open ballot used was against the guideline of the party.
A fresh poll was, therefore, ordered by the party’s NEC.
At a press conference after his committee met with executive officials of the party in the state, Ebiri distanced his panel from exercise which held earlier in the day, insisting that the committee was determined to do what is right.
Ebri said, “We have to be careful because of the political tension in the state… we have to do things right. Lagos state is so important to us.”
“We want a victory that will be credible, and will be in line with the guidelines and rules… We are ready to go to the field now so that at the end of the day, we won’t be accused of being partisan. We are now ready to hit the ground running.
“We have the electoral materials here but considering the Lagos situation, traffic and all, we will wait on the national office for action. The stage is set and the election will begin anytime from now. We will let you know as soon as officials come to get materials.”
According to Ebri, the panel was ready to give the most credible primary to the state and would contact the national headquarters for information on the preparatory process.
“It takes a lot of work for the main show to take place.
“We are ready to give the state the most credible election.
“We will contact the national headquarters on the timing for the release of materials. It is not our fault that this exercise took this long.
Ebri said the panel was waiting for the party chairman, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, to provide certain information that would enable them post people to the wards.
“We have two aspirants and we need to be fair to both parties. The information we demanded came in about an hour ago. And we had to struggle this period to balance the equation.
Now that we are ready, we will contact the national headquarters on the situation and the right time will be announced,” Ebri said.
He said that five persons from the local organising committee and four for each ward would be posted.
“They will all go out to ensure the primary is conducted. We all understand the terrain in the state especially as it concerns the traffic situation. So, the materials are available now and ready for deployment.
“The national secretariat advised us to use ballot papers and we came into Lagos with thousands of them. But during the stakeholders meeting, it became obvious that the state chapter of the party was not ready for such primary.
“They claimed that there was time to educate the members and others. And based on the submission made at the stakeholders meeting on Monday, some changes were made.”
“And that is one of the adjustment we made to accommodate views of the stakeholders. For us, the stage is set and the primary should commence any moment from now,” he said.