The National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has hailed the adoption of the direct nomination process by the party leadership saying unlike the indirect primary, the direct process will prevent moneybags from hijacking the exercise.
Tinubu who spoke on Tuesday at Alausa, where he voted at the governorship primary election said said the party rejected Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s re-election bid because he has failed the leadership test.
He said while a governor is expected to perform in office and fight the infrastructure battle, he is not expected to turn his back on the platform that brought him power.
Tinubu described the party as the major backbone of the governor and the architect of his victory at the poll, stressing that he should have carried the members along in his activities.
He spoke shortly after participating in yesterday’s open direct governorship primary at his Ward C, Ikeja Local Government Area.
Hailing the adoption of the direct primary, the former Lagos State governor said the method was superior to the delegate system.
Tinubu applauded the huge crowd of members that came to vote, describing it as democracy in action.
He said he surrendered to the generality of party members who demanded the direct primary and rejected the governor’s second term bid.
The former governor said while the delegate system could be hijacked by rich aspirants, the direct system is insulated from corruption because it is open and promotes inclusiveness.
Tinubu said: “Seeing is believing. You have seen the people. You have seen participatory democracy. You have seen transparency. As a leader, I had to surrender to these people. It is their wish to participate in the exercise and determine who will be the next governor to direct the affairs of Lagos. And that has been demonstrated openly by the people. They have democracy and the anti-corruption policy of this government.
“Where you have delegate system, they move 24 hours around their constituencies. They collect from A, they collect from B, they collect from C, depending on the number of candidates. They give scores to the highest bidder. Stop promoting corruption and opposition to open primary. Allow them to openly demonstrate on the line where they belong with their identification cards. You kill corruption in the party.
“I wouldn’t have been the governor in 1999, if open primary had not been adopted. Throughout the state, I went to the nooks and crannies of the state; to 245 wards to canvass for support. It was not the delegate system.”
