Controversy Trails PDP Houses of Assembly Primary Nationwide

• Gov Orji’s son picks ticket for Umuahia Central

By James Sowole in Akure, Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta and Daji Sani in Yola,

Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti, Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto and Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia

MUAZU

The primary elections of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which held nationwide on Saturday to elect candidates who will carry the party’s flags in the 2015 State Houses of Assembly election, was fraught with controversies in many states.

While violence and irregularities characterised the congresses in most of the constituencies, only a few of the constituencies witnessed peaceful exercise.

The crisis rocking the Ondo State chapter of PDP continued at the primaries as the two factions of the party held parallel primary elections in some constituencies.

Although there was no presence of the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC ) to monitor the exercise in some places visited in the morning, each of the two factions claimed to have elected its own authentic  candidates for the election.

However, the case was different in some constituencies as THISDAY checks revealed that in Idanre, Ese Odo, Ondo East and West constituencies, the two factions harmonised and held a successful exercise.

In his reaction, the State Chairman of the party, Mr. Ebenezer Alabi, who denied the report of the absence of INEC at the venue of the primaries, said the officials came late due to some rearrangement that occurred between the representatives of the two factions at the INEC office .

In Ogun State, the primary election was so controversial that the National Working Committee had to cancel the exercise.

Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel for House of Assembly, Mr. Akeem Animasaun, who was expected to conduct the primaries, was absent while a member of the committee, Muyiwa Bolaji, claimed ignorance of the cancellation.

The state’s party elders have disassociated themselves from the primaries and therefore called for nullification of the whole process. The PDP elders under the aegis of Concerned Elders, in a statement signed by Hon. Dave Salako, a former member of the House of Representatives, said the primaries were conducted by a group within the party in the state and the results should therefore be disregarded.

The elders, who contended that the conduct of the primaries was against the position of the leadership at the national level, demanded that the exercise be suspended forthwith until some knotty issues were resolved.

But the state chairman of the party, Engineer Bayo Dayo, said there was no iota of truth that the primaries was cancelled, insisting that it had the backing of the leadership of the party. He explained that the exercise was conducted under a peaceful atmosphere in all the 26 centres where the exercise was held.

Likewise, in Adamawa, which is battling insurgency occasioned  by Boko Haram, the emergence of two versions of delegates’ lists made a mess of the primary election.

On realising the existence of two delegates’ lists,  the state’s PDP officials  raised the alarm and vehemently rejected the list, which was alleged to have been doctored by the national secretariat of the party. The development caused the primaries to end in a deadlock.

A Yola High court presided over by the state Chief Judge, Justice Ishaya Banu, had earlier restrained the PDP national headquarters from conducting the primaries.

This was as a result of a motion ex-parte brought against the national leadership of the party by the state chairman of the party, Chief Joel Madaki, and others over alleged illegal dissolution of the state exco.

However, in spite of the brouhaha that trailed the outcome of the Delegates’ Congress conducted by the PDP a couple of weeks ago, the primaries conducted the party across the 26 State constituencies of Ekiti State were largely free and fair.

Also, the peaceful conduct of the primary election in Sokoto led the party to  adopt consensus candidates in 17 of the 23 local government areas.

The State Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ibrahim Milgoma, who disclosed the outcome of the primaries to newsmen in Sokoto, said the party conducted the primary elections in Dange/Shuni, Sokoto South, Sokoto North, Gwadabawa, Bodinga and Tambuwal local government areas and that it was devoid of violence.

Milgoma stated that the party provided a level-playing ground for all members to contest so as not to disenfranchise any person. He however, noted that adopting the consensus system had reduced intra-party squabbles.

Milgoma also stated that the consensus arrangement was being considered for the national assembly and gubernatorial primary elections of the party. No fewer than 1,156 delegates participated in the state assembly primary election.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the first son of Abia State Governor, Chinedum Orji, has picked the PDP ticket for Umuahia Central state constituency following the conclusion of the primary election held across the state.

His candidature was confirmed when the Returning Officer, Chief Anayo Nwakodo, declared the result of the primary election, which saw Orji polling 11 out of the 12 votes cast by delegates.

The other two contenders for the ticket, Adighibe Maduakolam and George Uwalaka, failed to score any vote as one vote was voided.

According to the Returning Officer, each of the three political wards was represented by three delegates while four delegates including Governor Theodore Orji were automatic delegates.

In Umuahia East state constituency the leader of Abia House of Assembly lost his bid for a fourth shot at the legislature as he lost the ticket to Chukwudi Apugo, who won with 12 votes.

Other results were still being expected from other constituencies across the state in the primary election, which started behind schedule.

Chairman of the Primaries Organising Committee for Abia, Chief Andrew Azubuike, attributed the late start to the delay in arrival of his team from Abuja, which he blamed on logistics problems.

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Controversy Trails PDP Houses of Assembly Primary Nationwide