Although, the primary election conducted last Sunday by the FCT All Progressives Congress (APC) to pick its senatorial candidates for the 2023 general elections might have come and gone, it is being trailed by controversies as some stakeholders of the party feel the tenets of fair play were not respected during the exercise.
Four aspirants competed for the Senate ticket. They included Zakari Angulu Dobi, Bitrus Zaphania Jisalo, Jibril Wowo and the only female aspirant in the contest, Mrs Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi.
After the exercise, the party announced Dobi as the winner who polled 277 votes, while Mrs Adedayo got 28 votes; the highest votes ever garnered by a woman in any FCT election. But Wowo and Jisalo reportedly got one vote each.
The Chairman of the party’s Electoral Committee, Alhaji Lawal Yari, who announced the result, said: “As the committee chairman of this primary for the FCT Senate, I hereby declare Alhaji Zakari Angulu Dobi who scored the highest number of votes as the winner and he is returned elected.”
But shortly after the announcement, some stakeholders alleged that the exercise was skewed to favour the winner at the expense of others.
One of the stakeholders and chieftain of the party in the FCT who craved anonymity, alleged that as part of an institutional resolve to ensure a preferred candidate won the senatorial primary, rather than conduct the senate primary at the advertised Moshood Abiola National Stadium, the event was shifted to the National Women Centre without communicating the new venue to other aspirants.
He said that before the primary, invitation for a stakeholders meeting held at the residence of a top member of the party, which had another aspirant in attendance, was not extended to others.
Another party chieftain recalled how the delegates’ list was not published for aspirants to peruse and how the voter’s register was not made public, contrary to the extant electoral law.
He also recalled how, in contravention of Section 84 (12) of the new Electoral Act, civil servants and political appointees were listed as delegates and allowed to vote at the primary election venue.
A stakeholder from the camp of Mrs Benjamins-Laniyi, also recalled how the party in the FCT betrayed their preferred candidate by not providing a level-playing ground, let alone the party’s assurance to support female aspirants.
He said there was a meeting held at the Life Camp residence of a top party member which was “specifically called to discuss how to tackle the PDP in the FCT senatorial election. But at the meeting, it was agreed that, rather than go for a woman, who is also a non-indigene, why not settle for an indigene to tackle the incumbent, who is also an indigene…’’
According to him, Mrs Benjamins-Laniyi felt side-lined in the entire process, maybe because she is a woman, which is contrary to the assurance the party is giving to the female aspirants.
“The door was literally shut on her face because with at least 150 delegates who had assured her of support and had queued behind, she would have won the contest if there was fairness,” another party chieftain, who gave his name as James, said.
“But the build-up to the primary election indicated that the APC, at least at the FCT level, had concluded on its preferred choice and was set on that.
“With this kind of imposition in the FCT, it will be uphill task to get a woman to even win an election in the FCT. There is the urgent need for the national assembly and the FCT minister to do something,” he said.
“Abuja should set a good example by supporting women,” he said.
Stakeholders loyal to Jisal and Wowo also shared the same feeling.
One of them said: “We have appealed to the party’s highest organ, the NWC, as well as the FCT minister to look into what happened before, during and after the senatorial primary. We need to harness our members because we cannot afford a slip-up in 2023.”
Meanwhile, the winner of the primary election, Zakari Angulu Dobi, has pledged to work with his opponents that contested with him with a view to ensuring that the party emerges victorious during the general election.
Also, the chairman of the party’s Electoral Committee, Yari, said his committee had provided a level-playing ground for all the aspirants by ensuring that the process was free and fair.
