A stalwart of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Olayinka Oladimeji Segelu, has called for a free, fair and transparent conduct of the party’s primary elections for the Oyo State local government chairmanship and councillorship polls holding on May 15, 2021.
Hon. Segelu who made the call in a statement said it was necessary for democracy to be allowed to prevail by creating a level playing field for all the chairmanship and councillorship aspirants.
“As the primary elections of our great party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the forthcoming Local Government Chairmanship and Councillorship polls holds on March 4 and 8 respectively to pick our candidates, we must ensure that we allow for a level playing ground for all the aspirants without attempting to engage in any form of imposition.
“Party leaders in the various local government areas and wards must allow democracy and the rule of law to triumph. The delegates should be given the unmitigated liberty to decide those who will be our candidates for all the chairmanship and councillorship positions across the state,” Segelu pleaded.
The PDP chieftain advised the leaders to see all the aspirants as their children, adding that “People (aspirants) have invested a lot for the primary elections – time, efforts, money and everything. Therefore, there shouldn’t be room for selection and imposition of candidates. All the aspirants should be allowed to test their popularity in the field. Let the most popular aspirants emerge as our candidates. That is the way to go; that is the beauty of democracy.”
Segelu, however, said he has unalloyed confidence in the PDP Electoral and Monitoring Committee for the primary elections headed by Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi.
According to him, “Ningi is a respected politician with high integrity who would not succumb to the subterfuge and machinations of some leaders in the local government and wards to manipulate the process to pave way for the emergence of their preferred candidate.”
The former PA to ex-Speaker Dimeji Bankole further remarked: “Senator Ningi is a man I know personally since 2003 when he was in the House of Representatives before moving to the Senate in 2011. And so, I have no doubt he would make sure the committee is duly guided by the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017), guidelines for the conduct of Local Government Council Elections and the Electoral Act (2010 as amended).”
