Samuel Ikon, representing Etinan Federal constituency in Akwa Ibom state on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said only a political party that is able to manage its crisis well during this election season will win elections in the state, Vanguard reports.
Ikon, who spoke, on Tuesday, October 2, in Uyo, following an insinuation in some quarters that the chances of the PDP and APC in the state in 2019 elections will be 50-50, maintained that even with federal might or incumbency factor, any of the two parties that fails to manage its crisis well would lose out to the other.
The federal lawmaker and a former Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, who dropped his ambition to seek re-election into the House of Representatives for the current Speaker and member representing Nsit Ubium state constituency, Onofiok Luke few days ago, explained that he did so as a necessary sacrifice to prove that his loyalty and commitment to the party go beyond self.
READ ALSO: APC NWC endorses Sanwo-Olu’s victory
He said: “I will not say that it would be 50-50. What I will say is that we have a situation that has never happened before. And that is the fact that we have another party at the centre and another party in the state. Now we must be conscious of the fact that there are certain advantages to both sides.”
“You would realise that in the other party at the centre, there is control because they are in government and the party in the state is control because we are in government, so the issue of 50-50 does not arise for me. What arises has to do with the way each side manages its issues to their advantage to defeat the other. Because if you don’t manage your own issues well and there are crises around you to allow the other to penetrate, you lose out.
“At this point, it is an issue of who manages better internal crisis which are very normal in politics. Now that we are doing primaries, you are going to have people that will lose out, people that will be aggrieved, people who feel that they are not properly treated and they may decide to make certain moves based on some understanding. So that is the situation. I don’t like blanket colouration of the situation.”
PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
NAIJ.com previously reported that some men of the Nigeria Police Force in Kano, on Monday, October 1, reportedly prevented Kwankwasiyya-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from holding a parallel primary election.
Daily Trust reports that the Kwankwasiyya supporters converged at Lugard House, secretariat of the movement, for election but were denied access into the building by the police.
The national secretary of the Kwankwasiyya Awareness Network, Comrade Auwal Muhammad, said they were at the Lugard House for the screening of their delegates and aspirants preparatory to the primary.
PDP's Magnificent 7 For 2019 Election | Naij.com TV
Source: Naija.ng