Francis Nwifuru Governor of Ebonyi state has commended stakeholders and members of the All Progressives Congress in Ebonyi State for the peaceful conduct of the House of Representatives primary elections held across the state.
He maintained that there was no division within the party.
Speaking with journalists during the exercise, the governor expressed satisfaction with the level of consultations and unity among party stakeholders ahead of the primaries, describing the process as transparent and democratic.
“As you can see, everybody is happy. We had very noble consultations with our stakeholders and several meetings were held. Issues were resolved at the zonal and constituency levels. What we are doing today is to elect candidates who will fly the flag of our party, and I believe we will produce very capable candidates,” Nwifuru stated.
The governor dismissed reports suggesting the existence of parallel congresses in the state, stressing that only one congress committee was recognized by the party.
“We have only one congress committee. What is normal in democracy is for people to come out and test their popularity. There is no need for any parallel congress, and nobody is going to conduct one,” he said.
Nwifuru maintained that the APC in Ebonyi State remained united despite political interests and alignments ahead of future elections.
“Well, this is politics. People joined the party with interests. The question should be, what did these people do in 2023, and what evidence is there of their support? If people are willing to join another party to test their popularity, democracy allows that,” the governor added.
Reacting to reports that a particular aspirant from Ebonyi South had been disqualified from the contest, the governor said he was not aware of such development.
“You are just informing me about that,” he noted.
Governor Nwifuru also expressed confidence in the electoral committee overseeing the primaries, saying members of the committee had addressed concerns raised by journalists and party faithful during the exercise.
Stanley Okoro Emegha, the Ebonyi State Chairman of the APC, said there were provisions for appeals in the event of any disqualification, adding that the primary election process was progressing smoothly across the state.
The APC leadership in the state maintained that the party remains strong and focused despite recent defections and political realignments ahead of future elections.
