ONU PLEDGES TRANSPARENT ANPP PRIMARIES

Shekarau submits presidential ticket form
THE National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, yesterday assured all aspirants into the various political offices ahead of the April general elections that the party would conduct free and transparent primaries.

Speaking while receiving the expression of interest form for the presidential ticket from the Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, the former Abia State governor said his administration intended to set a clear example of how transparent primaries should be conducted.

This, he said, was why the party decided to set up a National Convention Committee (NCC) headed by the Third Republic governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. 'In the next few days, the party will be organising the convention, and I assure you that it will be the best convention in the political history of this country.

'We have set in motion the appropriate machinery to attaining the objective. That is why we had to set up a committee headed by the former governor of Edo State and Deputy National Chairman of our great party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to conduct the process,' he said.

While submitting his form, Shekarau pledged to abide by whatever decision arrived at if the conduct of the primaries was free, fair and transparent. Other presidential aspirants for the party include Chief Harry Ayoade Akande, an erstwhile chairman of the party's Board of Trustees (BoT); former Minister of Education, Alhaji Dauda Birma and Third Republic presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), Alhaji Othman Bashir Tofa.

While admitting that the forthcoming party primaries was an internal party affair, Shekarau pleaded with the national leadership of the party to provide a level-playing field for all the aspirants, assuring that he would accept the outcome of the exercise if freely and transparently conducted.

'As a loyal party member over the years, I will abide by all rules and regulations guiding the process of campaigning and participating in the convention for a hitch-free exercise,' he said.