By GBENGA OLARINOYE

OSHOGBO— NATIONAL Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, has justified the imposition of candidates by party elders saying it was the culture of the party that the leadership knew best.

Akande who spoke in an interview with newsmen also defended the choice of erstwhile Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC as the party’s presidential candidate. He said that with the choice of Ribadu, the party has commenced the process of turning over leadership to the youths.

The ACN chairman who spoke to newsmen as part of events marking his birthday  noted: “The British democracy is the oldest in the world and you cannot see political parties there conducting primary elections before choosing their candidates. They do it by picking competent hands that are trustworthy in the judgment of the party. So, we believe that elections under a democratic setting is when we are contesting with other political party during polls.

“If election within our party is what you are trying to describe as internal democracy, then we reject such idea. Can we impose when we are contesting against PDP?

Party knows what people want

“But we can do something within our party if the leadership of the party feels that that is the best thing. This is because it is the leadership of the party that understands the manifestoes of the party and knows what the people really want.

“This is not a matter of an individual but the party. Nobody should accuse ACN of imposition because that is our style. Anyone that is not comfortable with that should go and contest in another political party. So if you see anyone carrying placard around, he is wasting his time.

We know the efforts we made before the party becomes what it is today and where were they when we were making the efforts. It is when they saw that the party is popular that they were attracted to it and we don’t expect them to come and hijack the party because of their dirty money.”

On the choice of Ribadu as the party’s presidential candidate, Akande said: “In August last year, our party decided to migrate from using the old hands and resolved to make use of the youths. That was why we encouraged the youths to pick our forms for the elections.

We felt that the youth of this country have been denied the opportunity to be in the forefront in the political life. So, we wanted them to be able to come forward and showcase their stuff.

“So, our party is determined to create opportunity for the youths to partake in the elections and governance. As a result of this, we allocated enough space for the youth in our party. It is our desire to see the youths operating while we are still alive and we are trying to accomplish that.  Therefore, because Nuhu Ribadu falls within that bracket, he was able to get our ticket for the presidential election.”