The imperative of transparent APC primaries in Abia if the party is to win the 2027 gubernatorial elections

Party primary elections over the years have been the beacon of internal democracy, cohesion of different party structures and team spirit to ensure the victory of a candidate who emerges victorious in transparent party primary elections.
This will allow a political party to face opposition party candidates in major elections.
A transparent party primary election for the selection of the APC governorship candidate where all members of the party can vote transparently and decide who emerged as the APC governorship candidate in Abia state in the 2027 elections will undoubtedly save the party from its past mistakes that had dissuaded it from winning the Abia governorship seat, especially a bitter lesson for the party in the hands of High Chief Ikechi Emenike in the bygone era where improper primaries, fragmentation of party structures into avoidable crises and even court cases robbed APC the unity and cohesive strength needed to win gubernatorial elections in Abia State from 2007 to date.
Once beaten, twice shy, Abia State APC should learn from the mistakes and pitfalls of the past to allow its candidates/flagbearers to emerge through voting in transparent primary elections in line with the provisions of the Electoral Law, thereby deepening internal democracy, trust, unity, collective energy and support behind any candidate who emerges through these transparent primaries to win the main elections in 2027.
The party in Abia State this time should avoid taking for granted the right of members to freely choose their preferred gubernatorial candidate as this crude and undemocratic part of imposition or rented consent/endorsement of any candidate without open primaries has left interest groups within the party feeling sidelined and cheated of their rights to vote or be voted for in transparent primary elections where perhaps the feeling is that their candidate could win.

The bad blood that followed the undemocratic debacle of the emergence of flag bearers of the party in the Abia APC, especially gubernatorial candidates in the past, has remained the downfall of the APC in major elections in Abia State, something the party should avoid this time if it has to create a united front to win the state in 2027.

*Dike Isuochi writes from Umunneochi LGA, Abia State.