A former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, has said the Peoples Democratic Party will field the best candidate for the 2015 governorship election in the state, playing down suggestions that the party could be thrown into turmoil after its primary election.
With at least 10 aspirants signifying their intention to pick the sole ticket of the party for the governorship election in 2015, many have suggested that the party could face internal crisis that could arise from aspirants who would lose out.
He said, “The party will not make a mistake by picking the wrong candidate for the state governorship election in 2015.
“There will be free and fair primary in the party and as always, the best candidate will emerge from the exercise. There is danger in picking the wrong candidate because it will affect our credibility and chances of winning the election.
“If the right candidate is picked, others will work for the progress of the party. We are not worried about that right now because the national executive of the party knows the right thing to do”.
Alao-Akala noted that the PDP’s loss to the All Progressives Congress in Osun State would not have any influence in Oyo State, stating that it would rather strengthen the party members to work harder.
“What happened in Osun will not happen in Oyo State because the situation is different. It is painful that the election result did not favour us. Instead of allowing it to dampen our morale, it will strengthen the party and make us work harder. We will not allow any party to out-smart us again because we learn from every challenge we face as a political party”, he said.
The former governor, however, expressed dismay at the level of preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission in the distribution of permanent voter cards in the state and registration of new voters.
“INEC is not convincing us that there will be credible election in the state. It has failed in the state. The time frame is short and making excuse about logistics is not acceptable. How can the commission say that it lost our data, including my own? Something should be done about it because this is the foundation to a good election. INEC should wake up and provide the necessary materials for the voter registration. I hope this is not a sabotage or deliberate act to disenfranchise us”, he said.
