Benue State All Progressives Congress (APC) National Assembly Primary Election Committee on Friday said it is for everyone and for nobody, and assured that it will conduct the exercise without bias.

Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Sabiu Saidu, stated this in Makurdi while addressing returning officers, local government party chairmen, and journalists during the distribution of electoral materials at the APC secretariat.

Alhaji Saidu announced the resolve of the committee to ensure a transparent, fair, credible and acceptable primary elections, and linked the delay in the arrival of the team to the late arrival of logistics and security arrangements, but assured of the committee’s preparedness to conduct the exercise.

Saidu said voting would be open to all registered APC members using the certified membership register for each ward, adding that accreditation and voting would be conducted based on the register, and that result sheets would be provided for both ward and local government levels.

He directed that agents of all contestants must endorse the result sheets, which would then be submitted to the committee for collation and announcement, while areas where consensus had been reached, returning officers must receive written letters signed by contestants conceding to the consensus candidate.

“Where you have consensus, we need to know, so that we know elections will not hold in that location. The location will do an affirmation, which has a process. Before we do affirmation for every seat, we must have a written consensus agreement by all the contestants,” he said.

He equally revealed that in constituencies with multiple contestants, returning officers must ensure all agents sign the result sheets, and that results are made public before submission.

Saidu advised returning officers who may be party members not to be partisan, as every candidate, every contestant is a member of the APC, and must be treated fairly and equally.

While cautioning that the committee would not condone any acts that could jeopardise the credibility of the election, Saidu further added that materials and registers would be handed over to returning officers for onward distribution to wards, assuring that at the end of the exercise, the committee would reconvene to collate results and announce winners.

The committee’s chairman prayed for a peaceful election and success for those who would emerge as the party’s candidates.