The ex-Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, on Wednesday threw his weight behind the decision of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress that the state chapter of the party should use direct primary for its elective positions ahead of 2019 general elections.

He gave the support while addressing the party governorship, national assembly and state assembly aspirants at his Ibara GRA, Abeokuta home.

Four governorship aspirants at the meeting were Senator Adegbenga Kaka, Dapo Abiodun, Jimi Lawal and Abayomi Hunye.

Osoba, who had earlier held a closed-door meeting with some of the governorship aspirants, warned against the danger of going into an election with a divided house.

He noted that the division among the aspirants in the state would not augur well for the success of the party at the polls.

Citing the case of the Osun State governorship election which held last Saturday, September 22, he said the division in the state chapter of the party, led to its almost poor performance, which warranted a rerun.

He said he had lost sleep over the outcome of the Osun election, lamenting that the party in the state went into the election with a divided house, and that affected its performance.

He said, “Let us learn from the Osun State election. People voted for the candidate who never participated in any debate, never spoke at any of the campaign rallies. When we were governors, I and my colleagues had pedigree and substance.

“We (APC) went into that election (Osun) divided, a divided house will crumble. The Deputy Speaker (Lasun Yusuf) was nonchalant and the Secretary to the State Government defected to another party.

“In Ogun State, it is necessary to preach unity. Primary is just the first step, to win the election, the party must unite. I am begging you today to learn from what happened in Osun State. I was born in Osogbo, it used to be a commercial hub for business activities.

“All factions must close ranks and be united, as long as we are all members of the APC. We must not make any mistake which other political parties could exploit.

“You could remember that Rotimi Amaechi became the governor of Rivers State without going through any election, and there are other members of the National Assembly who got there through court judgments.”

Speaking about the security breach in his residence on Tuesday where two suspects flew a drone over the house, Osoba said the issue had been put to rest. – Punch

– Sept. 27, 2018 @ 10:27 GMT |