APC Guber primary: Oshiomhole accuses police of compromise

Gov. Adams Oshiomhole of Edo, has accused the Bayelsa Police command of compromise in Tuesday’s botched All Progressives Congress (APC) primary in the state.

Oshiomhole, who is the Chairman, APC Bayelsa governorship primary, made the accusation on Wednesday in Benin while briefing newsmen.

He alleged that from the action of the police, it was evident that officers and men of the command compromised the electoral process.

He said in spite of the heavy presence of security personnel dispatched to the Samson Siasia Stadium, venue of the election, thugs still found their way into the stadium effortlessly and disrupted the exercise.

He explained that while some of the thugs were apprehended and handed over to the police, the state police authority saw nothing wrong in their action as they were immediately released.

Oshiomhole said that the election did not hold on Tuesday as thugs took over the electoral process and the police were helpless, adding that it took the efforts of the JTF to control the situation at the stadium.

He said the chaos that characterised the primary does not conform to the guidelines issued by the party for the conduct of governorship primary.

He said that the APC national secretariat adopted a standard guidelines used in the Kogi gubernatorial primary which produced a winner without any problem in August.

The key issues in the guidelines, the governor explained, were identification of delegates with their Permanent Voter Card, National ID or International Passport.

Oshiomhole said that while all the other aspirants agreed with the guidelines, former governor Timipre Silva disagreed and accused the party of formulating a guideline to frustrate his ambition.

He said that the action of the former governor showed that he had no fate in the democratic process, saying that “whoever wins does not matter but the process that produced the winner.’’

He said that he had sent a detailed report of what transpired during the primary to the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

He said that in his report, he suggested a new date for the conduct of the primary.

Oshiomhole also accused officials of the APC executive in Bayelsa of conducting parallel primary instead of working with representatives of the party from the national headquarters sent to conduct the election.

He said that he and the secretary of the committee did not announce any result neither did they issue any certificate of return.