The Coalition of Ekiti State Civil Society Organisations (COESCSOs),has said that the primaries conducted by the All Progressives Congress(APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) last week were peaceful, acceptable and substantially compliant with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The coalition noted that the outcome of two elections were largely supported by godfathers, saying those alleged to have been anointed by strong party men in the two dominant parties won the primaries.
While the immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Biodun Oyebanji won the direct primary of APC and former Commissioner for Environment, Bisi Kolawole, emerged victorious in the delegate system adopted by the opposition PDP.
The chairman of COECSOs in Ekiti state, Prof. Christopher Oluwadare, while giving the preliminary report of the coalition in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital Monday, said the fact that the elections didn’t witness bloodshed, killing and violence make them more acceptable and better than the previous years.
The coalition, comprising over 150 organisations posited that : “For PDP and APC indirect and direct primaries, those who have stake, I mean the godfathers controlled the process. We feel that we must neutralise the overriding powers of individuals, so that they won’t be the sole determinants of who becomes what in our parties.
“If you check critically, the person people felt had been by a former governor in PDP won the primary, likewise in APC, the anointed person won. That is why all contestants should try and mobilise early, so that you can have serious elections that will be participatory.
Defending the primaries where Oyebanji and Kolawole had emerged for the APC and PDP respectively, Oluwadare added that there were tremendous improvements in the conduct of the primaries, thereby making them general acceptable.
“The fact remains that the APC primary was much more peaceful and with over 107,000 party members participating and this is commendable and a good sign of a better voter turnout at the next election. It also reflects the general wish of the voters across the LGAs.
“The coalition urges other APC governorship aspirants that refused to participate from the primary to close ranks, review positively the outcomes and as true progressive democrats, work towards victory for the party and the winner. Somebody must surely win and it is Ekiti, head or tail. The peace, progress and unity of Ekiti is a collective agenda.
“We hereby call all faceless political appendages that masqueraded as Civil Society Organizations to stop the falsehood reporting of the primary election.”
