From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
AFTER days of speculation over the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Bayelsa, the National Working Committee ( NWC) of the party has decided to order a fresh primary election.
The fresh exercise is scheduled to begin today with accreditation of delegates and end on Wednesday morning with the announcement of the winner.
APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun said the previous primary election in which former governor Timipre Sylva claimed to have won did not meet the
required standard of the party for a free and fair election.
The decision of the NWC was hinged on the presentation of the Chairman of the Electoral panel and Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, who told the NWC that serious security challenges marred the exercise held on Tuesday, September 22
Oyegun said the NWC sees it as a duty to provide a level playing field for all those who aspire to offices in this party, noting, how- ever, that “unfortunately, in Bayelsa State, we had serious security challenges and so, the process could not meet the standard which this party set for itself.
Oyegun added that the party was getting in touch with the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase and other security agencies to assist it in ensuring effective security during the fresh exercise.
Earlier in the day, Oshiomhole narrated at the national secretariat of the party how deadly weapons surfaced at the venue of the botched primary, adding that he was not bothered about accusation of bias against him.
“I really don’t want to go back to those issues; these are not issues that transpired in a bedroom. I do hope that someday, we will get to a point where even the media must defend the democratic
space. Concerning what happened in the stadium, I have seen independent re- ports, gun shots were being fired, AK-47 were recovered, two of them, pump action and live ammunition. These were not secrets that transpired, I am not the issue and I don’t want to be the issue. There are issues that are important to me, on this one I didn’t go there as a governor, I went there as a party member on national assignment by the party and it was a great honour,” Oshiomhole said.
Meanwhile, governor- ship aspirants in the party have gone back to the drawing board to strategise on how to woo delegates for the election.