Photo: Bashir Sati, Plateau APC Secretary
The Plateau State All Progressives Congress (APC) says it has adopted consensus candidate method for electing party officials during its congresses which begin with the ward congresses slated for 31st July, 2021 to ensure hitch-free congresses.
The Secretary of the party, Barr. Bashir Sati who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Jos said the ruling party also opted for consensus candidates in order to reduce election costs.
Sati explained that consensus congresses adopted by the APC was unique because it has the double advantages of both minimizing the cost of spending in conducting the election and reducing rancors that are in most cases associated with such elections.
He said the party was ready for the congresses and that the atmosphere was already fully charged with all the card carrying members of the party preparing their wards for the congress.
“We are encouraging people to all relocate back to their various wards and encourage the emergence of consensus candidates on or before 31st July 2021.
“This singular action of APC encouraging consensus candidates as much as possible is to reduce the cost of the primary and the high costs that are always associated with party primaries as well as enable the process to be hitch free.
“Based on the reports at our disposal, many of the local governments have been able to come up with consensus candidates while some are about rounding up,” he said.
The party scribe debunked the rumors making the rounds that most of the so-called consensus results were doctored by some of the party stakeholders who want their choices to win at all cost.
“I don’t think that is practically possible, but since it is s politics, you don’t rule out the possibility.
“Before now, we had the list of our stakeholders in the state, local governments and wards, as such, we directed that stakeholders, and the appointees should put their heads together so that they can produce the desired candidates for the party,
“Aside that, we asked all the stakeholders to write their names fully and sign in case of those things you are talking about, which is the manipulation, so that we can cross check with the list of the stakeholders,” he said.
He assured that the leadership of the party was making every effort to ensure a free, fair and rancor-free congresses and, which would be difficult for anyone to manipulate.
Sati further said that the party’s leadership had directed that the consensus method would also be adopted as much as possible for the state congress, and where that fails, the party would have no option than to conduct election for the state congress to elect its officials.
“The party can only conduct primaries for those areas that the people are not able to reach consensus.
“Take for example in Jos North, if by the special Grace of God, we have been able to have ten wards that are able to comply fully with consensus, we know that we are going to conduct elections only in the remaining four wards, which would reduce the cost of election, time and other things because we are now having a smaller number to contend with as against the total of fourteen wards. So the same thing applies to all the local governments in the state. We are very mindful of that.
“The two options before the party are by consensus, which is discussion between the people who agree on what we want, once the people are satisfied with what they produced by themselves, the party is given the go ahead.
He called on the supporters of the party in the state to continue to be law abiding and advised any aggrieved member of the party to channel his complain to the appropriate channel as their complaints will be given the attention needed within the law.
While calling on party faithful not to take the laws into their hands, Sati promised that the party would continue to carry all its members along.
He re-echoed Governor Lalong’s charge to the party members during a recent stakeholders meeting that the congresses should be people-driven so that it would not be hijacked by selfish individuals.
