Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo says the chairmanship and councillorship candidates of All the Progressives Congress (APC) in the September 21 local government elections may emerge through consensus.

Mr Uzodimma said this on Tuesday while addressing aspirants and stakeholders at the party’s secretariat in Owerri.

“Consensus will be conducted for the 27 chairmanship positions and the 305 ward counsellors,” said Mr Uzodimma.

He said the decision to opt for consensus candidates was taken to promote unity and cohesion in the party as well as stability of politics in the state.

“The decision became imperative following the high number of interested candidates in the polls; the number of aspirants today for counsellorship is over 800, and over 200 for chairmanship.

“There are three ways of producing a candidate in the constitution of APC – by direct primaries, indirect primaries and the third is by consensus.

“We will look at the peculiarities of each LGA. Our first option will be consensus. Where it is difficult to arrive at a consensus, we will go into a contest, using either direct or indirect methods to elect candidates,” he said.

The governor congratulated the party on its electoral victory at the Supreme Court, saying the judgment had paved the way for the smooth conduct of the upcoming council elections.

“Before now, it seems impossible because of the insecurity in various LGAs of the state,” he further said.

The governor reminded the party faithful that APC was one family in the state and urged them to make sacrifices for the party’s victory.

“I will plead with the party to go into the contest with one spirit; those who win, we will encourage them to work with those who didn’t win.

“Those who didn’t win, because they are too many, and too much money is involved, we will do our best to refund your money,” he assured the aspirants.

In a brief remark, the party’s state chairman, MacDonald Ebere, thanked the governor for his leadership role.

(NAN)