A former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Chief Jide Awe has said that the party is currently in a “party less and directionless situation” despite being in power both in Ekiti and at the centre.
The APC stalwart also said the failure of the party to conduct proper primaries from ward to the national levels had put it in a more difficult and delicate situation, since its Constitution did not recognise the Caretaker Arrangement currently in place.
Speaking with a cross section of journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the apparently furious Awe admonished the stakeholders in APC to handle the issue of primaries with care in order to avert imminent calamity that may befall the party in the nearest future.
Awe, who bemoaned the current happenings in APC urged its stakeholders not to toy with the fortunes of the party by ensuring that the right things are done at all times.
He warned that the APC might be setting a booby trap for itself by not ensuring that proper primaries were not conducted at all levels ahead of the future elections.
He said, “The APC as it is, is in a ‘party less’ situation. A party that has no executives is directionless. Yes I am entertaining fears because that was what brought us to the present calamity within the party. The congresses we conducted in 2018 brought us to this ‘party less’ level we are.”
“It is important for us now to have properly conducted congresses from ward to national level. My own fear is that we still have the same people in charge to have a change of mind. We want to avoid running into that pit again, that is why we are talking to those who care to listen”, Awe said.
“When members are complaining and those at the helm of affairs are behaving as if they are angels and operating within iron cast habitat, when they are not relating well with members, that is causing a lot of problem within our party. That may be some of the problems we are going to encounter soon as we go into the election year.”
Commenting on the situation in Ekiti ,Awe took a swipe at the executive alleging that “they are insensitive to yearnings of aggrieved party members. The present situation is not expected of us. We are not measuring up to standard and party members are complaining.”
He also alleged that the ghost of the 2018 Governorship Primaries which produced the incumbent governor Dr Kayode Fayemi was still haunting the party in Ekiti.
According to him, the APC had mismanaged itself both at the state and national levels, stressing that the primaries for the 2022 governorship election must be conducted in a transparent and acceptable manner if the party wanted to retain in Ekiti.
He argued that the only option left for APC to save it from impending woes at the state and national levels was to conduct congresses.
The APC man urged the party to jettison the idea of ‘winner takes all’, adding that “Up till now, the ghost of the primary which was conducted in 2018 governorship is what we are still battling with.
“Despite APC being in government in the state, many of our people don’t see themselves as being part of the party much more being part of the government. That was what led to the hues and cries after the executive.
“I think some of what we are seeing have resonated in the national which led to the total dissolution of the National Executive Committee of the party. In our party constitution, there is no room for caretaker, so, there is urgent need for congresses.”
He however admonished that the party should not wait till the time of electioneering before correcting the alleged anomalies.