Rivers PDP, 32 aspirants clash over non-issuance of nomination forms

There was confusion at the Rivers secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday following claims by about 32 aspirants that the chapter of the party refused to issue them expression of intent and nomination forms after payment.

But the party countered the allegations saying that there was no record that the aggrieved aspirants paid money into its account.

The aspirants, who brandished their bank drafts, besieged the secretariat in the morning and vowed to remain there until they were issued their forms.

The aspirants, who came in their numbers, complained that despite meeting all the requirements, the PDP leadership in the state refused to give them their forms.

One of them, an aspirant for the House of Assembly, Kinikanwo Ogbu, said having paid for the forms and obtained their bank drafts, the party was expected to issue them their forms.

He said all the protesters were vying for the House of Assembly and the National Assembly elections.

He said: “We are all law-abiding members of the PDP in Rivers State. We have our bank drafts showing that we have paid into the party coffers to obtain our intent and nomination forms. But on getting here this morning we could not find any party officer to do the needful for us to get our forms.”

Ogbu wondered why the party officials were not on ground to give them their forms especially as the purchase deadline would expire on Thursday.

“All that we want is that they should give us our forms because we have paid into the party account. When this last day for sale of the forms elapses, we will go back to the party and lodge a formal complaint.

“As a party faithful, I have purchased forms and I wonder if they will not give us the forms? We demand that whoever is holding the forms should give us our forms,” he asked.

Another aspirant, Augustine Nwigbarale, from Khana Local Government Area, said the party had no excuse to deny them the forms.

He said: “We have fulfilled the party conditions by paying to the designated bank account and we have all of our bank drafts here. We were asked to come to the party secretariat as the situation demands to pick up our forms and fulfilling every administrative logistics, which we are ready to comply with only for us to get here and discover that we are being played upon.

“We met some top party officials and they told us that the leadership of the party is not on seat. But to our greatest dismay, we noticed that they tricked us from the office on the first floor to the downstairs only for us to discover that they sneaked through the back door and locked up everywhere,” he added.

But the Publicity Secretary of Rivers PDP, Tambari Sydney Gbara, said they had no records of the protesters’ transactions with the party.

“The true situation is that we dont know where they got those documents from because they didn’t pay into the party’s account. They never came to us to say they wanted to buy forms.

“Those, who came to the office, we issued them a note, they went to the bank, paid into our account and brought the teller back to us. We then issued them a receipt with which they obtained the forms.

“These people, we have not seen them before and we don’t know where they pay their money. If they said they paid into the PDP Rivers State account, they should be able to show us evidence. Wherever they pay money to, they should go there and get what they are looking for,” he said. (The Nation)