The Abuja South Federal Constituency, consisting of the Abaji, Kwali and Gwagwalada areas of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, could not reach an agreement after days of intense negotiations for a consensus agreement of the All Progressives Congress, APC, opting for the direct primaries.
Stakeholders of the ruling party in the zone gathered at voting points in the Kwali area council from 8 am on Saturday to vote for the contestants, but dispersed at about 2 pm when officials, who were supposed to conduct the election, did not show up at the venues.
The party members were seen showing their membership cards with joy, waiting for voting to commence, but left the venue disappointed when nothing happened till 4 pm that day.
Places visited by our correspondent to monitor the primary election include Pilot/Demonstration Primary School, Gwagwalada, and Science Pilot Primary School, Kwali.
Speaking with the outgoing Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council and APC House of Representatives aspirant, Abubakar Jibrin Giri said consensus will not work in the FCT, accusing defectors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of championing the method to enable them to grab power through the back door.
Giri said, “Members of the party will resist attempts to bypass due process and impose unpopular aspirants on the party,” insisting that “the three aspirants contesting for the House of Representatives seat in the zone should be allowed to test their popularity, and whoever wins should be supported to fly the party’s flag in the 2027 general elections.”
Giri accused the incumbent federal lawmaker, Abdulrahman Ajiya, who is also an aspirant, of wasting four years in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly without doing anything for the people.
He promised to make a huge difference, if elected, by making himself accessible to the people, improving their welfare and attracting modern infrastructural development for Gwagwalada Area Council and other parts of the Federal Constituency.
At Kwali, the former FCT Commissioner for the National Population Commission, NPC, and former Chairman of the Kwali Area Council, Joseph Shazin Kwali, advised leadership of the party to abide by the wishes of the people and allow a free and fair primary election in Abuja South.
Shazin, who left Kwali Central Ward disappointed due to the unavailability of officials to conduct primary elections, stated that consensus arrangements are fraught with dangers and may lead to people leaving the party.
“The people are willing to elect their favourite candidate. This can be seen from the large turnout at the Pilot Science Primary School, Kwali, but there are no officials to conduct the election.
“Meetings are still going on about producing a consensus candidate, but from my interactions with the aspirants, it might not be possible to have a consensus candidate, so people should be allowed to vote for the person they want.”
Voting is currently going on in Gwagwalada, with no indication that such will happen in Kwali and Abaji anytime soon, as Kwali aspirant Danladi Chiya was said to have been holding a meeting with two other aspirants from Abaji over a consensus arrangement.
Four aspirants, Giri, Chiya, Musa and Ajiya, are contesting the Abuja South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives come 2027.
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