Oyo 2023: APC Risks not Fielding Candidates in 13 Constituencies — Group Warns
The All Progressives Congress (APC) may not be able to field candidates for 2023 elections in four out of 14 federal constituencies and nine out of 32 state constituencies in Oyo State.
In a statement released on Sunday, a group within the party named The Progressives Front raised the alarm expressing worry that the development may adversely affect the fortunes of the party.
Coordinator of the group, Mr Tunde Oladosu, who spoke against the backdrop of the spate of defections from the party after its primaries, said if not quickly checked, the development would compound the lingering crisis in the party.
According to Oladosu, information at the group’s disposal which was confirmed by sources in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has revealed that primary election was not held in affected federal and state constituencies before the deadline set by the electoral body.
The federal constituencies involved are: Oluyole, Ibadan South-West/ Ibadan NorthWest, Ibarapa North/ Ibarapa Central and Iseyin/Itesiwaju/ Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituencies.
The state constituencies where APC will not field candidates are: Ibarapa North/ Ibarapa Central, Ibarapa East, Oyo East, Oluyole, Ogbomoso, Atisbo/Saki-East, OnaAra, Iseyin/Itesiwaju and Oorelope.
“We should avoid what happened in Zamfara in the 2019 general elections when INEC disqualified all the APC candidates for governorship, national and state assembly elections, because the party failed to conduct its primaries within the INEC stipulated time frame” Mr Tunde Stated.
