Party primary elections over the years are the beacon of internal democracy, cohesion of different party structures and team spirit to ensure the victory of a candidate who emerges winner in a transparent party primary election.
This will enable a political party face candidates of opposition parties in the main election.
A transparent party primary election for the selection of APC gubernatorial candidate where all party members are allowed to transparently vote and decide who emerged the gubernatorial candidate of APC in Abia State come 2027 election will no doubt save the party from its past mistakes that had deterred that party from winning Abia governorship seat especially a bitter lesson for the party in the hands of High Chief Ikechi Emenike past era where improper party primaries, fragmentation of party structures into avoidable crises and even court cases robbed APC the unity and cohesive strength needed to win gubernatorial election in Abia State since 2007 till date.
Once beaten, twice shy, APC Abia State should learn from its past mistake and pitfalls to allow its candidates/ flagbearers emerge through voting in a transparent primary election in line with provisions of Electoral Act thereby deepening internal democracy ,trust,unity and collective energy and support behind any candidate that emerges through this transparent primaries to win the main election in 2027.
The party in Abia State should this time avoid taking members’ right to freely choose their preferred gubernatorial candidate for granted as this crude and undemocratic part of imposition or rented consensus / endorsement of any candidate without open primaries have left interest groups within the party feel sidelined and shortchanged over their rights to vote or be voted on a transparent primaries election where perhaps the feeling is their candidate could win.
The bad blood that followed undemocratic rout to emergence of party flag bearers in Abia APC, especially gubernatorial candidates in the past had remained the downfall of APC in the main election in Abia State which the party should avoid this time around if it must forge a united front to win the state come 2027.
*Dike Isuochi writes from Umunneochi LGA, Abia State.
