The All Progressives Congress’s (APC) consensus arrangement in Taraba State has suffered a setback after several aspirants refused to withdraw from contests in key constituencies.
The development has forced the party to prepare for direct primaries in some National Assembly and state assembly constituencies ahead of today’s exercise.
In a statement, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Aaron Artimas, said the state chairman, Abubakar Bawa, had reconstituted another committee to continue talks with aggrieved aspirants.
“The committees achieved a tremendous amount of success, as many aspirants have already agreed to step down in the interest of party unity,” the statement read.
It added that the new committee would engage aspirants “who may still be holding out for one reason or another.”
Aspirants Reject Withdrawal Appeals
According to Punch, reports from zonal committees showed that consensus failed in Takum, Donga, Ussa, Kurmi, Nguroje and Wukari, where aspirants insisted on testing their popularity through direct primaries.
A former lawmaker, Tukur El-Sudi, who chaired one of the reconciliation committees, said many aspirants rejected appeals to step down for incumbents.
“All aspirants in Nguroje declined to withdraw for the incumbent lawmaker because they insisted the process must remain competitive,” he said.
The Chairman of the Southern Zone Consensus Committee, Dr Philip Duwe, said some aspirants initially feared the consensus arrangement was a plot to impose candidates.
“Several aspirants believed the process was designed to favour certain individuals, but the consultations later became useful platforms for dialogue and reconciliation,” he said.
Duwe added that the huge financial investments made by aspirants for mobilisation and consultations also contributed to the collapse of the consensus talks.
Bawa, however, dismissed suggestions that the inability to reach consensus across all constituencies amounted to failure.
“The inability to achieve consensus everywhere is not a failure. It simply reflects internal democracy because aspirants are expressing themselves freely,” he stated.
