Governorship aspirants on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in Abia State, have warned the national leaderhsip of the PDP against self destruction in 2023 general elections.
They alarmed on the alleged manipulation by tiny segment of the State Executive Committee of the party to yield to plots at subverting the democratic process, which according to them, is geared towards achieving a predetermined goal of imposition at all levels.
However, while addressing newsmen at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja, on Wednesday, the PDP gubernatorial aspirants led by the Senate Minority Leader and the representative of Abia south senatorial district of Abia State, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, noted that the ugly development if not stopped could spell doom for the PDP ahead of the general election in 2023, not only in Abia State but in the Southeast as a whole.
The Senate Minority Leader was flanked by Rt Hon Ude Oko Chukwu, Senator Emma Nwaka, Engr Enyinna Nwafor, Chief Ncheta Omerekpe, Dr Chima Anyaso, Rt Hon Sampson Orji and the State Secretary of the Abia chapter of the PDP, Barrister David Iro.
This was contained in a release forwarded to AFRIPOST on Thursday.
They maintained that there was no conduct of party ward congress anywhere in Abia State, to elect the 3-man adhoc delegates for the upcoming primaries of the party and also explained that it failed to hold on the on 4th of May, 2022, the exercise was rescheduled and since then, none has been held, neither has there been any communication for another congress by the party national headquarters.
According to them, “This can be verified via an official letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that confirmed the last official communication between it and the PDP to the effect that no congresses to elect the 3-man Ad-hoc delegates for the party primary elections has held up till today.
“We heard via rumours that there is a list of delegates flying around and in the custody of the National Working Committee (NWC) purporting it to have been a product of a congress held on 6th May, 2022”.
Continuing, the governorship aspirants, posited that what is being brandied as a list emanated from an imaginary congress conducted vide a letter of notice to the Abia State Resident Electoral Commissioner signed by the State Chairman of the PDP, Mr Allwell Asiforo Okere, adding that the implication being that the functions of National Executive Council (NEC) and National Working Committee (NWC) was performed by a State Chairman of the party and not the National Chairman and Secretary.
They therefore urged the PDP national leadership to disregard any of such list especially now that the INEC had come forward to clarify that it neither received any communication from the PDP national Chairman and the National Secretary to participate nor dId it monitor any such exercise as required by both the INEC Guidelines for political parties section 1.2 which stipulated a mandatory 7-day notice to INEC and Section 82(5) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The PDP chieftains further described the entire ugly development as the height of impunity that they must resist, particularly the National Working Committee of the party.
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