A group of PDP guber aspirants have called for the cancellation of the April 30th adhoc congress and all primaries held by the party in Akwa Ibom over irregularities and illegalities.
The group made up of Obong Ide Idemeko, Mr James Iniama, Mr David Okpon and Mr Idoreyin Umoh in a press statement tagged “impunity upon impunity” made available to newsmen in Uyo on Sunday also urged the National Working Committee and National Executive Committee of the PDP to cancel the conduct of the guber primaries in the state pending the hearing and determination of the reliefs contained in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/606/22.
They opined that the primaries conducted for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate positions using the three (3) AD-HOC Delegates per ward in Akwa Ibom State be immediately invalidated on grounds of its illegality.
“To say that the exercise of choosing a governorship candidate for the PDP in Akwa Ibom state was a charade is stating the obvious. The exercise was fraught with widespread irregularities, subterfuge, and intimidation. The impunity upon impunity was palpable and brazen. It was a mockery of civilized behaviour and opposite of what is right and decent.
“Sadly, the skewed political culture in the state, governed by patron-saints would rather go for the ephemeral. Instead of allowing a level playing field for all aspirants to convince the electoral college to choose their preferred aspirant based on a thorough and cursory analyses of the capacity, character and competence of individual aspirants, our know-all chieftains resorted to mundane considerations and subterfuge.
“The result is the charade that came out of the Special State Congress held on May 25, 2022 for the purpose of nominating a Gubernatorial candidate for the Party. In fact, this charade and shambolic conduct has trailed all congresses leading up to the May 25, 2022 Special State Congress in Akwa Ibom State.
“We reiterate that the complaints contained in our petitions did not in any form mean that we had withdrawn from the contest; and this informed our presence at the Special State Congress to enable us to observe at close range the conduct of the primaries as well as offer us the locus standi to further challenge the validity of the processes in law court, if need be.
They argued that the so-called adhoc delegates did not go through any proper identification and accreditation process before being allowed into the venue of the State Congress for Gubernatorial primaries while the list of the adhoc delegates were not published for all aspirants to be properly informed of who to consult and engage.
“Only the government sponsored aspirant had prior knowledge of who the adhoc delegates were and only he was able to meet with them before the primaries.
“Finally, only the government sponsored aspirant, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno and his wife were listed as adhoc delegates and had the opportunity to vote for themselves. Other aspirants were denied this privilege.” They observed.
The group expressed dissapointment over the present skewed nature of the political culture of the PDP in the state, “strewn with all sorts of debris that precludes the emergence of any organized and cerebral candidacy, and where such seems possible, is immediately sacrificed on the altar of short-sighted considerations and predatory elite instincts.”
“We ran an organized and issue-based campaign, anchored on our individual and collective visions to address the many knotty issues holding onto the jugular of our development.
“We did not only dissect the problems in our individual manifestoes and blueprints but proffered solutions; we knew the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of our problems and went further to provide the ‘how’ of handling these problems.” They said.
The aspirants however urged their supporters to remain calm and hopeful assuring them of arriving at a position that would be satisfactory to all adding that they, “will continue to update you as we fight for the soul of our party, state, and country.” The statement concluded.
