A former leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly and chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, Hon. Chidi Lloyd on Thursday said direct primaries would have caused disaffection in the party if adopted.
Lloyd who spoke to theportcitynews shortly after the state executive meeting of the party where the party voted in favour of indirect primaries, noted that indirect primary is safe and less expensive to organise.
This decision by the party to adopt indirect primary was due security concerns in the state and lack of coordinated membership database for supporters of the party in the state as presented by the executives present at the meeting.
The party took this decision at an Expanded State Executive Committee, meeting yesterday in Port Harcourt, in which 106 voted in favour of the indirect primary against three and one who voted for Consensus and Direct Primary respectively.
Addressing pressmen at the end of the meeting, Chairman of the Party, Hon. Ojukaye Flag-Amachree said the party, after a long deliberation, resolved to adopt indirect primaries.
Amachree stated that the decision to adopt indirect primaries was based on issues of insecurity in the state, noting that the party does not want its members to be attacked during the process.
He said: “After the meeting of the Expanded Executives of the party, the party has decided to use indirect primaries in electing our candidates.
“The reasons for this decision are because of the issues of insecurity in the state and the lack of membership database. We will transmit this decision to the national body of the party”
Meanwhile, the Senator Representing Rivers East in the National Assembly, Sen. Andrew Uchendu, described the resolution as apt.
He said: “We may not have a safe venue where we will have security for direct primaries. You know there is a government here in the state that does not want to see APC. That may be an avenue for attacks.
“It will be good that we spread out so that if they try to attack us; before they will attack two places, security men have taken charge.”
