Direct Primaries : Ex Lawmaker tasks APC, Buni to respect people’s wish i n Ekiti, Osun
All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant in Ekiti State and a former member, House of Representatives, Bamidele Faparusi, has called on the Mai Mala Buni-led caretaker executive to go by the people’s wishes for direct primaries to select candidates in Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections.
Faparusi, who described direct primary as the most credible and reliable way of electing party candidate and opportunity to give power back to the ordinary Nigerians, urged Buni to adopt it and as well make Ekiti a test ground for the conduct of credible direct primary in the country.
The aspirant, who resigned his position as Ekiti State Commissioner for Public Utilities in the month to contest in the governorship election, said in Ado Ekiti on Saturday, said, “Let the APC national leadership use Ekiti to prove a point that they have the capacity to conduct credible primary, especially the direct mode.
“APC national leaders must rise above emotion and pedestrian thinking in some quarters and do exactly what the larger majority wants, which is direct primary for Ekiti, Osun elections and others that will be coming in 2023.
“When President Muhammadu Buhari came in 2015, he promised that power will be returned to the people and direct primary remains the best option to actualise this patriotic and selfless pledge.
“Political parties are independent organs that can apply what is best for the people even without constitutional provision. President Buhari and many governors in APC were either reelected or elected in 2019 through direct mode of primaries even when there was no law mandating that. That was democracy in action.
“That showed that we know what is the best for our members. So to me and many others, direct primary is best for Ekiti. Except we are deceiving ourselves, Nigerians prefer direct primary going by the mood in town. Democracy depicts that people are more powerful than those in power and they should be made to have their way,” Faparusi said.
The former federal lawmaker advised National Assembly members to study the grey areas that needed to be finetuned in the proposed Electoral Bill based on Buhari’s explanation and look for ways to straighten all rough edges for representation to the President.
