Bayelsa: APC Holds Guber Primary Wednesday

By Asolo Eyedoude

The All Progressive Congress APC in Bayelsa State is set to hold its Governorship primaries Wednesday following the decision of the Sagbama High Court sitting in Yenagoa to set aside an interim order stopping the party from conducting its governorship primaries in the state using direct mode.

The court presided by Justice E.G. Umukoro, said the interim order, which he initially granted could no longer stand following argument against it contained in an application on notice filed by the applicant respondent.

Reviewing the interim order against the position of the respondent, Justice Umukoro said the kernel of the application was that the interim order was made without jurisdiction and was at variance with the electoral act, constitutions of the APC and the country.

He said the respondent applicant quoted some judicial precedent including the case of Sylva vs PDP 2012 and posited that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain pre-primary matter of any political party.

After the Court ruling, Governor Mai-Mala Buni of Yobe State, who is the Returning Officer for the Governorship primaries declared that the process to elect the governorship candidate of the party through direct primary method has commenced following the vacation of the court order that earlier disrupted it.

Governor Buni, who spoke after meeting with the aspirants and major party stakeholders including Chief Timipre Sylva the Minister of State for Petroleum, and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri the former Minister of State for Agriculture, said the process would be concluded within the time frame stipulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Also at the meeting were businessman, Chief David Lyon and an Engineer, Preye Aganaba and Prince Ebitimi Angbare.

Buni said: “The process has commenced and we had a very wonderful meeting with the stakeholders. We adjourned the meeting to allow the process to continue. We have agreed to adhere to all the guidelines issued by the party.

“We have a timeframe within which we are working. The process is direct primaries and all the aspirants agreed with it. We are on the same page.

“We are here to provide the level-playing ground for all the aspirants. We are not hoping for violence. We are all APC and one big family so we have to work together to win the election. 

“It is only one person that wins and when one person emerges we look forward for all the others to come forward and support him”.

One of the aspirants, Preye Aganaba, said it was a victory to democracy that the APC respected the court order saying his time was comfortable with any method of primaries.

He said though the meeting was stormy, everybody agreed to adopt the direct mode of primary.

He said: “The direct is a decentralised mode of election and familiar people will be at their awards to cast their votes. So I expect it to be a family affair. At the end of all of these we should all come out to support whoever wins:.

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