From Moshood Karim
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is gearing up for its scheduled February 17 governorship primary election to choose its standard bearer for the September 21, 2024, poll.
To ensure that the best candidate is fielded, the party has conducted a screening and pruning exercise which was overseen by a panel chaired by Hon Julius Ihonvbere.
The panel was entrusted with the task of recommending aspirants for participation in the scramble for the party ticket, and after careful consideration, it has achieved a list of six aspirants.
Initially, 29 aspirants had shown interest in the party’s ticket for the governorship poll, but the party leadership had initiated the idea to prune the number of aspirants to achieve a small size of aspirants.
The panel, therefore, scaled down the number to ten from the initial 29, before finally whittling it down to the final list of six aspirants. The aspirants who made it to the list hail from Edo North, Edo Central, and Edo South.
From Edo North, the immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, and a retired permanent secretary in the Federal Civil Service, Dr. Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, made the list. From Edo Central, serving Senator Monday Okpebholo and the immediate past State Chairman of the APC, Col David Imuse (retd) made the cut.
From Edo South, a serving member of the House of Representatives, Hon Dennis Idahosa, and a former Deputy Governor, Lucky Imasuen, made the list.
The party is expected to make a formal announcement about the outcome today. It is worth noting that some of the aspirants may express their reservations over their being screened out of the process, even though they would not take steps that would undermine the integrity and footing of the screening and pruning process, which is in the interest of the party’s victory in the September 21, 2024, governorship poll.
The APC has set a goal of putting forward its best candidate, one who is competent enough to trump the best of the PDP and the Labour Party.
