Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has assured members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that candidates for the various elective positions in the 2019 general elections would emerge through free and fair primaries.
The Governor, who gave the assurance while speaking at the Oyo South Senatorial District meeting held in Ibadan, on Monday, also said that the APC leadership would support the best among all the gubernatorial aspirants to become the next governor of the state.
The meeting was attended by aspirants for various political offices and party faithful from the senatorial district comprising nine local governments. The local governments include Ibadan North, Ibadan North-West, Ibadan South-West, Ibadan South-East, Ibadan North-East, Ido, Ibarapa East, Ibarapa North and Ibarapa Central.
Ajimobi explained that the meeting was aimed at intimating members of what transpired at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the APC, held in Abuja, last week.
Ajimobi said: “The meeting we held with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja last week was to fashion out ways of repositioning the party for victory in the 2019 general elections. The meeting was also used to review the activities of our party.
“We also realized that some faceless people were behind the crisis that we experienced recently in our party in Oyo State that they were the one sponsoring the dissident group.
“I am however happy that despite the insinuations that our party membership has been depleted because of the actions of the group, we still have this huge presence of members here. This is an indication that we are on top of the game.
“It is very obvious that our party parades the best of aspirants, especially in terms of individual accomplishments, academic backgrounds as well as their respective loyalty to the party. Let me assure you all that the party leadership will create a level playing field for you all.
“The issue is not that I prefer some gubernatorial aspirants than the other. Indeed, I encouraged all of them to join the race. They are all my people and they are all equally qualified.
“Let me assure you once again that I will never impose any candidate but we will support any candidate who has the capacity to win”
