Consensus governorship bid will weaken APC’s internal democracy in Abia – Apostle Alozie

A leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Apostle Chuks Alozie, says any move for a consensus candidate for governorship will weaken internal democracy and send a wrong signal of unnecessary participation to APC grassroots supporters in Abia State.

Apostle Chuks Alozie said this while interacting with journalists in Abuja, on the alleged move for a consensus governorship candidate for the party in the state.

Apostle Alozie said the move will sideline thousands of voices of APC members whose expectations are to choose their candidates through voting, as well as weaken the democratic principles upheld by the APC.

According to Apostle Alozie, “the APC’s best chance of victory is to field an acceptable candidate whose affirmation occurs through a transparent process that reflects the will of the majority.

“The essence of primaries of any political party is to test the popularity of the aspirants, their availability and vision, the person is expected to visit the constituencies and precincts, gain the trust of party members and at the same time sell their manifesto, so if Abia APC fails to abide by this process in presenting its governorship candidate and others that the party must have carefully vetted, as the opposition party in the state, I fear we may end up struggling to withstand the rigorous general campaign that is approaching”

Apostle Alozie, while reacting to the effect of such consensus candidates on APC unity in the state, said true unity can be achieved through open competition and not imposed agreement, warning that consensus governorship candidates and others in Abia APC will breed factionalism, anti-party activities and resentment.

“History shows that once nominations are imposed in a political party and the members whose preferred candidates are excluded from the race become demoralized and the next thing they know is defection with their large number of supporters or you see things like factionalism and anti-party activities”

“When free and fair primaries are held, everyone gains a sense of belonging, even those who lost in the primaries will accept the result and join forces for the victory of the party, in fact rejecting the so called consensus candidates in Abia APC will not only show the democratic nature of the APC but will also project the quality of our various flag bearers including that of the governorship candidate”

Apostle Alozie, in the interest of democratic integrity, electoral competitiveness and party cohesion, urged the SWC State Working Committee in Abia to uphold the sanctity of open primaries and reject the proposal of a consensus candidate for governorship by any individual or group of persons within the party.