Percy Onyeka
While stakeholders from Edo Central senatorial district have continued to lay claim to the governorship ticket as their turn, ahead of the September 21 election, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that it will not zone the ticket to any particular zone of the state.
The APC National Working Committee (NWC) said after it’s meeting late Monday with the 29 aspirants justliing for the party’s ticket and other stakeholders that the party has thrown the ticket open to all zones, stressing that it would support any candidate that emerges from it’s primary election, irrespective of his or her zone
Recall that the Esan tribe of Edo Central senatorial district has insisted that it is the turn of the zone to produce the successor to Governor Goodwin Obaseki of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who hails from Edo South district, after his predecessor Adams Oshiomhole, from Edo North had completed his eight years tenure of two terms
APC Deputy National Publicly Secretary, Durosimi Meseko said on Tuesday that the NWC did not discuss the issue of zoning during the meeting with Edo aspirants and stakeholders, stressing that the party has thrown the ticket open and will support any credible candidate that will help it reclaim the state without focusing on zone
Stressing further, the Edo State APC Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadie Igbinigie said the party is not emphasizing on zoning ahead of the poll, stressing that it only want to present a strong candidate who can reclaim the seat for them
He said. “As an opposition party in the state we are not emphasizing on zoning. We decided to throw the ticket open to accommodate all credible aspirants and produce a strong candidate who has the capacity to win the election for us
“Moreover, you cannot place something on nothing. We are fighting to reclaim the governorshiip which we lost in 2020. So the party wants to avoid all the issues that led us into the crisis that caused us the election. We are not talking of zoning at this period because we don’t have anything at hand. It will be open to all credible aspirants who are committed members of the party.”
EZEOCHA NZEH
