Bayelsa Polls: APC primaries hold Wednesday as Court set aside interim order

The Returning Officer for the Governorship primaries slated for Wednesday and the Governor of Yobe State, Mai-Mala Buni, has declared that the process to elect the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State through direct primary mode has commenced following the vacation of the court order that earlier disrupted it.

Buni, who spoke after meeting with the aspirants and major party stakeholders including the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva and the former Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the process would be concluded within the time frame stipulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Also at the meeting were businessman, Chief David Lyon and an Engineer, Preye Aganaba and Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, Ex- commissioner of police, Diseye Nsirim Poweigha , Prof. Maureen Etebu.

Buni said: “The process has commenced and we had a very wonderful meeting with the stakeholders. We adjourned the meeting to allow the process to continue. We have agreed to adhere to all the guidelines issued by the party.

“We have a timeframe within which we are working. The process is direct primaries and all the aspirants agreed with it. We are on the same page.

“We are here to provide the level-playing ground for all the aspirants. We are not hoping for violence. We are all APC and one big family so we have to work together to win the election.

“It is only one person that wins and when one person emerges we look forward for all the others to come forward and support him”.

One of the aspirants, Preye Aganaba, said it was a victory to democracy that the APC respected the court order saying his time was comfortable with any method of primaries.

He said though the meeting was stormy, everybody agreed to adopt the direct mode of primary.

He said: “The direct is a decentralised mode of election and familiar people will be at their awards to cast their votes. So I expect it to be a family affair. At the end of all of these we should all come out to support whoever wins.”