By CHARLES IWUOHA

Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, has said that he is satisfied over the conduct of All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives primary elections held across the state.

Nwifuru lauded the stakeholders and party members for the peaceful conduct which he described as free and fair.

In an interactive section with newsmen in Abakalili after the exercise, the governor Nwifuru expressed satisfaction with the level of consultations and unity among party stakeholders ahead of the primaries.

“As you can see, everybody is happy. We had very noble consultations with our stakeholders and several meetings were held. Issues were resolved at the zonal and constituency levels. What we are doing today is to elect candidates who will fly the flag of our party, and I believe we will produce very capable candidates,” Nwifuru said.

The governor dismissed reports of parallel congresses, insisting that the party remained united throughout the process.

“We have only one congress committee. What is normal in democracy is for people to come out and test their popularity. There is no need for any parallel congress, and nobody is going to conduct one,” he stated.

On the role of the electoral committee overseeing the primaries, Governor Nwifuru expressed confidence in its ability to conduct a credible exercise, noting that members of the committee had already addressed concerns raised by journalists and party faithful.

Reacting to reports that a particular aspirant had been disqualified, the governor said he had not been informed of such development.

“You are just informing me about that,” he said.

Nwifuru also spoke on the recent defections and resignations by some APC members in the state, describing the development as part of democratic practice.

“This is politics. People joined the party with different interests. The question should be: what did these people do in 2023, and what evidence is there of their support? If people want to join another party to test their popularity, democracy allows that,” he added.

The governor maintained that the APC in Ebonyi State remains strong and united despite political realignments ahead of future elections.

Also speaking, the Ebonyi State Chairman of the APC, Stanley Okoro Emegha, said there were provisions for appeals in the event of any disqualification, adding that the primary election process was progressing smoothly.