Tension is mounting within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State ahead of the party’s primary to fill the vacant Ibadan North Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives.
The party’s primary election to elect a candidate to vie for the position is scheduled for Sunday.
However, on Saturday, the social media was awash with allegations of imposition of a candidate to fly the party’s flag in the August 16 election.
Some party stakeholders and groups have raised concerns over alleged imposition of a particular aspirant reportedly backed by a top government official.
The aspirant, who reportedly rejoined the party recently from the Accord party, was believed by some within the party to be enjoying undue advantage in the selection process.
Sources within the party said that the allegation followed APC National Secretariat’s directive mandating an indirect primary.
This, the source said, overruled an earlier decision by party leaders in the state and aspirants to adopt a direct primary model for the selection process.
The stakeholders said that the reversal of the earlier direct primary model has left several party members dissatisfied and expressing a sense of exclusion.
Sources within the party have also alleged that members of the Delegate Congress Committee and the Appeals Committee, who are camped at a hotel in Ibadan, had produced a delegates list ahead of the congress to select delegates.
They said that the Delegates Congress Committees during a closed-door meeting at the APC state secretariat on Saturday, reportedly informed stakeholders of the cancellation of the earlier scheduled delegate congress, opting instead to adopt a pre-approved list.
A senior party figure, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the development as an abuse of internal democratic processes.
He appealed to the APC national leadership and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene, saying the integrity of the primary process must be protected.
