Protests trail PDP Congress across states The ward congresses of the Peoples Democratic Party were held across the states in Nigeria. The congresses were, however, greeted by protests from aggrieved political office aspirants who felt cheated in the process that was meant to produce three delegates ahead of the party’s primary elections. In Ekiti state, the ward congress was held across the 177 wards peacefully despite the presence of fully armed security men who took over the party’s secretariat in the state. It was gathered that the heavy presence of security men at the secretariat was informed by unconfirmed report that suspected thugs were planning to attack the edifice located in Ajilosun, Ado Ekiti. Our correspondent counted five Hilux police vehicles drafted to the area to keep vigil at the secretariat. It was gathered that except in some areas where there were pockets of crisis over which modality to adopt for the conduct of the congress or how the lists of the delegates were drawn, everything was smooth. But reports from Ekiti North senatorial district indicated that no congress took place in the area. A former National Assembly member, Senator Ayo Arise, had earlier accused Governor Ayo Fayose of drawing lists of delegates for the congress, an accusation the governor had denied vehemently. In Kaduna State, the PDP conducted ward congresses in the 23 local government areas in spite of several complaints over irregularities. During the congresses, three delegates were elected from each of the 255 wards in the state who would later elect candidates in the state and federal assemblies as well as the governorship primaries. Elections were not conducted in all the wards because the delegates emerged via consensus as allowed by the party’s guidelines. Several party loyalists rejected the results of the exercise on the grounds that names of delegates were allegedly selected by government and state officials days before the exercise. In Benue State, the late arrival of election materials and alleged snatching of materials trailed the congresses in the 23 councils in the state. Commenting on the issue, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Terhile Ayua appealed to stakeholders to cooperate in order to achieve consensus. In Benue State, Senator Barnabas Gemade, in a radio broadcast, accused Governor Gabriel Suswam of hijacking the whole process in order to pick his preferred candidates. But in a sharp reaction, Suswam’s media director, James Uloko said Gemade’s insinuation that the nominations forms for the delegates election had been bought by the governor was “nonsensical, illogical and most irresponsible.” “Senator Gemade is advised to leave the governor alone and be prepared to face the wrath of party members at the Benue-North-East Senatorial District because of his abysmal performance with his imminent rejection at the primaries by PDP members,” Uloko said. In Enugu State, the PDP Ward congresses held in the 266 electoral wards were smooth and peaceful as party members came out en masse to elect their delegates. However, in Edo State, protests and allegations of imposition of delegates marred the PDP ward congresses. A visit to some of the 192 wards in the state indicated that while agreements on consensus candidates were reached and respected in some areas, the congress did not hold in others as some party leaders allegedly stayed in their homes to write results. In his reaction, a former governor of Edo State, Professor Oserheimen Osunbor warned the PDP against fielding unpopular candidates dailytrust 2/11/2014
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 11:04:21 +0000
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