BY OLA AJAYI

IBADAN—THE Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Oyo State,  may not conduct primaries to elect its governorship candidate for the 2011 election.

This followed a meeting of leaders of ACN which included the former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, some Ibadan elite and all the nine governorship aspirants of the party.

Vanguard gathered that some Ibadan elite had wanted the former governor to select one of the aspirants who is an Ibadan indigene so that the party could have a landslide victory over the ruling PDP.

The issue of handpicking a candidate did not go down well with former Governor Lamidi Adesina who had earlier promised all the aspirants and party members that the party would strictly adhere to democratic principles by going through primaries.

But, the ex-governor was not allowed to speak at the meeting because the elite had tried in vain to persuade him to impose a candidate on the party.

Vanguard further gathered that three of the governorship aspirants voted in favour of primaries while six others aligned with those opposed to primaries.

One of the aspirants who just joined the party, knowing the arrangement of handpicking would favour him, spoke in favour of the undemocratic practice.

Tinubu was said to have asked him how he would react if he was not the one chosen and he said he would support whoever was picked.

Further investigation revealed that some members of the party are ready to join Senator Rashidi Ladoja who is contesting on the platform of the Accord Party if they handpick candidate because he may not enjoy the popular votes of the electorates.

One of the aspirants reminded the elders of the party on the dangers of handpicking a candidate and that it was the same issue that resulted in the loss of the party in the last election.

Unable to decide at the meeting, Tinubu told them that the party would get across to them very soon.
When called to comment on the issue, the secretary of the party, Mr. Wasiu Olatunbosun asked how newsmen got to know about the meeting, adding that he did not know what transpired at the meeting.

He stressed that the party would surely send PDP packing from the Government House and that the party would what would be pleasing to its teeming members.