Disquiet Over Gov Bago Consensus Candidacy For Niger LG Polls

The decision of Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago to produce the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates for the forthcoming local government elections has received knocks.

The governor announced last Saturday while breaking fast with some major stakeholders in the state that his party, APC, has adopted the consensus method as the mode for primary elections preparatory to the upcoming local government council elections.

He said names of candidates will be submitted by the party to the State Independent Electoral Commission, even as he urged stakeholders to go back to their respective local governments to do the needful.

LEADERSHIP reports that the governor’s statement has caused upset among some party stakeholders.

It was learnt that some of those who were nursing ambition and were getting ready for the primaries of the party were taken aback by the latest development and have resorted to intense lobbying of party executives.

Meanwhile, a public affair commentator and media practitioner, Yahaya Mohammed, however said despite the fact, it was lawful consensus fell short of some democratic principles but said the consolation by the 2022 electoral act was that even if consensus was adopted all aspirants must sign in agreement

Similarly, another activist, Dauda Abdullahi, said “ the consensus by Nigeria standards is invariably an imposition but if it is done based on the popularity of the aspirants no one should raise eyebrows, it could easily bring about cohesion.”

He said anything short of what the people want could lead to litigation, saying that the focus is now on the local government because of likely autonomy.