Lawmaker blames party exco for botched delegates election Bassey Inyang in Calabar There are strong indications that delegates from Cross River State may not participate in the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) billed for December 10 to 11 this year, where President Goodluck Jonathan will be nominated by the party’s delegates as the presidential candidate of the PDP for the February, 2015 presidential election. This is because the national delegates congress billed for Saturday could not hold in the eighteen local government chapters of the party in the state, following some unresolved issues between the state executive committee of the PDP and the national officers who were dispatched to conduct the elections. Findings indicate that since the national delegates elections could not hold, the national officers led by Hon. Manasseh Abu, returned to Abuja on Sunday morning.
On Saturday, the Chairman of the PDP in the state, Ntufam John Okon, explained why the national delegates election could not hold in the state as scheduled stating: “The national officers have arrived and for now what is holding us is they are struggling to sort out the delegates list to agree. And more so what is even making it cumbersome is the issue of the court injunction. You know there is a court injunction against the changing of the list of the delegates. “If we can sort it out, the local government congresses would hold today. If not then it may hold tomorrow.”
Though Okon cited a court injunction obtained from a Calabar High Court as the reason for the inability of the delegates elections to hold, the Chairman of the house of representatives committee on defence, Hon. Chris Etta, disagreed with that reason, saying the national officers who constituted members of the electoral committee were simply held hostage by members of the state executive committee of the party.
Etta said thugs, gun wielding police and heavily armed soldiers were deployed by the party leadership to prevent the national officers from moving out of the hotel to get the exercise conducted in the various local government chapters of the party. Reacting to the development on Sunday, Etta who represents Ikom/Boki federal constituency said: “The delegates election ought to have held yesterday(Saturday). The officials came and moved straight to the party to commence the exercise.
Unfortunately, the party officers came, picked them out and took them to Transcorp where they were held hostage and that is where they were held up till this morning that they have been taken to Abuja and still taken hostage even as we speak right now.” Continuing, Etta said, “Why are you holding them hostage. What are the issues? This is democracy. If the people came for an exercise, then allow them do the exercise. If there are issues you do not agree with, then you state them. If you don’t want to give them the opportunity to do the exercise then you let them go.” Speaking further on the issue, Etta said, “Now the party says they will not accept a list which the people presented because they said the delegates list had been cooked. “I don’t know from what source it had been cooked. A delegates list which all strata of the Cross River political system had all acknowledged that it was an exercise that was done, freely, in fairness and devoid of any animosity. In their parlance, it was a family affair. When did it suddenly develop problems? After the delegates conference, the appeal panel came. The very system said they had no complaint about the exercise. The people stayed went back and made their report. So, at what point did it suddenly develop challenges. You had a mechanism to complain, you did not utilise the mechanism. The appeal panel came, which is a medium of complain, you did not make that complaint, then suddenly now you are turning around to complain. It is unfortunate and unbecoming”. Etta said, if it were individuals that raised objections to the list it would have been understandable. “Is the PDP now the medium for the enforcement of the right of those individuals? If the individuals feel there is a problem let them go to court, but the process must proceed. It is not normal. How did they even know that the names are not reflecting the names that did the delegates election? The chairman did not touch the list. From the field have there been complaints by delegates that they contested elections but did not see their names? Was there such?,” Etta queried. THISDAY gathered that the delegates election have been postponed indefinitely by the party.
On Saturday, the Chairman of the PDP in the state, Ntufam John Okon, explained why the national delegates election could not hold in the state as scheduled stating: “The national officers have arrived and for now what is holding us is they are struggling to sort out the delegates list to agree. And more so what is even making it cumbersome is the issue of the court injunction. You know there is a court injunction against the changing of the list of the delegates. “If we can sort it out, the local government congresses would hold today. If not then it may hold tomorrow.”
Though Okon cited a court injunction obtained from a Calabar High Court as the reason for the inability of the delegates elections to hold, the Chairman of the house of representatives committee on defence, Hon. Chris Etta, disagreed with that reason, saying the national officers who constituted members of the electoral committee were simply held hostage by members of the state executive committee of the party.
Etta said thugs, gun wielding police and heavily armed soldiers were deployed by the party leadership to prevent the national officers from moving out of the hotel to get the exercise conducted in the various local government chapters of the party. Reacting to the development on Sunday, Etta who represents Ikom/Boki federal constituency said: “The delegates election ought to have held yesterday(Saturday). The officials came and moved straight to the party to commence the exercise.
Unfortunately, the party officers came, picked them out and took them to Transcorp where they were held hostage and that is where they were held up till this morning that they have been taken to Abuja and still taken hostage even as we speak right now.” Continuing, Etta said, “Why are you holding them hostage. What are the issues? This is democracy. If the people came for an exercise, then allow them do the exercise. If there are issues you do not agree with, then you state them. If you don’t want to give them the opportunity to do the exercise then you let them go.” Speaking further on the issue, Etta said, “Now the party says they will not accept a list which the people presented because they said the delegates list had been cooked. “I don’t know from what source it had been cooked. A delegates list which all strata of the Cross River political system had all acknowledged that it was an exercise that was done, freely, in fairness and devoid of any animosity. In their parlance, it was a family affair. When did it suddenly develop problems? After the delegates conference, the appeal panel came. The very system said they had no complaint about the exercise. The people stayed went back and made their report. So, at what point did it suddenly develop challenges. You had a mechanism to complain, you did not utilise the mechanism. The appeal panel came, which is a medium of complain, you did not make that complaint, then suddenly now you are turning around to complain. It is unfortunate and unbecoming”. Etta said, if it were individuals that raised objections to the list it would have been understandable. “Is the PDP now the medium for the enforcement of the right of those individuals? If the individuals feel there is a problem let them go to court, but the process must proceed. It is not normal. How did they even know that the names are not reflecting the names that did the delegates election? The chairman did not touch the list. From the field have there been complaints by delegates that they contested elections but did not see their names? Was there such?,” Etta queried. THISDAY gathered that the delegates election have been postponed indefinitely by the party.
On Saturday, the PDP secretariat was sealed off by heavily armed soldiers and mobile policemen drafted from the Quick Intervention Squad (QIS, the security outfit of the state government. The armed soldiers and policeman barricaded the main gate of the secretariat and prevented anybody, including members of the state executive council of the party from gaining entry to the premises. Following the sealing of the secretariat the party officials and national officers who arrived Calabar early in the day were moved to Transcorp Metropolitan Hotel which was used as the temporary secretariat for the congresses.
Though no official of the party agreed to be quoted on the sealing of the secretariat , one of them confided in THISDAY that “the state government drafted the QIS to come and maintain law and order because some disgruntled member were about causing mayhem”.
The development is a clear indication that the crisis rocking the party has assumed wider dimension, which could be traced to the outcome of its November 1, ward congresses, that may have favoured the Abuja based politicians against the state’s party establishment.
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