Governor Abiola Ajimobi had asked the APC gubernatorial aspirants to go home and assess themselves critically and honestly before picking form.
According to Newspeak, the governor acknowledged that the party was free to adopt any of the three modes – Consensus, Direct or Indirect.
He however ruled out Consensus because of the crisis and bad blood it might generate, considering the number of aspirants.
Twenty-six aspirants were present. Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, was absent.
The meeting continues tommorrow Sunday, September 9.
The aspirants were told to go home and assess themselves critically and honestly on the following grounds:
Acceptability across the state
The governor asked them to honestly assess how acceptable and popular they were across the state, considering the fact that zoning or power shift was not on the party’s table.
Competence
The governor was said to have acknowleged the quality of a lot of the candidates but he advised them to consider critically, if they were truly prepared for what the office entailed.
Financial muscle
The governor expressed hope that the aspirants were aware of the financial implication of the campaigns ahead of them especially after emerging at the primaries. He stressed the fact that the aspirant or candidate will be responsible for a greater share of the finance required for his or her campaign activities.
Not money politics
Even though the governor stressed how important it was for a candidate to possess financial ability and capability, “he went on to warn them against thinking that money alone would do it”, our source said. The governor was said to have warned that anyone who depended solely on money would be disappointed.
No power shift/zoning
Stressing why each aspirant must consider his acceptability across the state seriously, Ajimobi made it known that a power shift or zoning arrangement was not on the party’s table, as such could mar the party’s chances.
There had been clamour for power shift and zoning, especially from the Oke Ogun zone.
Mode of primary
On the mode of primary election, the governor acknowleged that the party was free to adopt any of the three modes – Consensus, Direct or Indirect.
He however ruled out Consensus because of the crisis and bad blood it might generate, considering the number of aspirants. He said Direct primaries was also not feasible because of the shortness of time as well as the logistics and financial implications. According to him, the most feasible mode was the Indirect primary election.
Final decision
The meeting continues tomorrow, Sunday, September 9 when it is hoped that the aspirants would have reflected on the talk, made more comsultations and taken major decisions – to step down or go ahead.
