•Labour Party to hold primary in April as INEC charges CSOs to monitor primaries
Ahead of the November 8 Anambra governorship poll, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is considering the conduct of the party primary to select the candidate of the party through the indirect mode.
APC’s National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, made this known yesterday when the Iyke Madu-led members of the Booth 2 Booth with Bola Tinubu paid him a courtesy visit at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja.
Ganduje, who assured the party’s resolve to conduct a free and fair primary, pledged that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party would deliberate on the matter and come up with a final decision on whether to apply the direct or indirect mode in the end.
Underscoring the role played by Anambra State towards the sustenance of democracy in the country, he called on stakeholders of the party to set aside their differences in ensuring the success of the party.
Ganduje said: “Anambra State should assist in providing a conducive atmosphere. As a party, if we are to have a good primary in the state, our stakeholders are supposed to be born again. All of them have education, yet several court orders and litigations.
We told them that this time around, business should not be as usual. Let us support the system.
“We know they are very rich; they have a lot of money, and they will use the money to build the state, not to scatter the state. If they use the money to build APC, it will succeed. I will be highly interested if they can produce a candidate based on consensus; I will give them an award if that happens.”
MEANWHILE, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party (LP) has approved April 5, 2025, for the party’s gubernatorial primary to elect its standard bearer for the forthcoming Anambra State governorship election.
The party’s National Secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, said this in a statement in Abuja yesterday. According to him, the timetable and schedule of activities for the Anambra State 2025 gubernatorial primaries also indicate that the sale of expression and Interest/Nomination forms will commence on Monday, February 10, 2025, while the sale of delegates’ forms will begin on March 20, 2025.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, also spoke on the development, enjoining that “all interested aspirants are advised to visit the party’s National Headquarters for the collection of the guidelines for the party’s primary and other necessary information.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced, last year, that Saturday, November 8, 2025, would be the date for the Amambra State governorship election. The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this announcement while speaking during the fourth regular consultative meeting with party leaders.
HOWEVER, the INEC boss has expressed worries over the spate of vote buying and delegate manipulation during party primaries. Yakubu called on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to start paying attention to primary elections the same way they focus on secondary elections.Yakubu made the call during the first INEC regular quarterly consultative meeting with CSOs yesterday in Abuja.
The meeting, which brought together leaders of CSOs and INEC officials across the country, was to update the groups on the level of INEC’s preparedness for the upcoming Anambra State governorship election scheduled for November 8, 2025, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council election set for February 21, 2026.
