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As members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the State of Osun, file out to elect the governorship candidate of the party in the July 16 election, former Governor of the state and Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has urged party members to embrace peace and shun acts capable of truncating the process.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Ilesa on Saturday, Aregbesola urged supporters and party loyalists to participate in the exercise without fear of intimidation.
Aregbesola said: “Another electoral cycle has rolled by and we are now in that season again in Osun. We should thank God for the democratic right to participate in the electoral process of electing our leaders.
“As you all know, this is a two staged process. The first is intra-party, meaning that our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), will democratically nominate its candidate. The second stage, inter-party, will take place in a state-wide election sometime in July, God willing.
“For this first stage, I am appealing to all our party members to participate but peacefully in the primary election taking place today. They should avoid any form of violence, brigandage and disorderliness.
“Our party members, especially our supporters, should be resolute to cast their vote, not to be intimidated and scared away. But they should portray themselves and the party in the best form in comportment, organisation and promotion of societal peace and tranquillity.
“You should know that we are first a community of humans before we are a political community. Our peaceful coexistence therefore supersedes every other activity.
“The Nigerian and our party’s constitutions make provision for the expression of our preference and choice of leader every four years. This is the heart of the democratic process. It is an inalienable right we should take as sacred and exercise with every sense of responsibility.
“I am also appealing to our members to push out the women and let them lead the process by coming out decently and peacefully. This is to demonstrate the customary dignity of women as matriarchs, mothers, wives and daughters, which confers on them the special protection status from violent attacks from thugs and hoodlums.
“Our overall objective is to have a transparent, free, fair and peaceful election.
“I wish us all a peaceful, free, fair and successful primary election,” Aregbesola concluded.