2023: Crisis looms in Abia PDP over delegates list

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s governorship aspirants and other stakeholders of the party in Abia State have warned the Dr Iyorchia Ayu-led National Working Committee (NWC) not to accept any list of delegates from the state.

Addressing a press conference at the PDP National headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, the aspirants led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senate Minority Leader, said the warning has become imperative as no ward congress to elect the 3-man Adhoc delegates took place in the state.

Abaribe, flanked by other governorship aspirants, disclosed that the congress, earlier scheduled to hold on 30th April 2022, was cancelled due to a court order.

“It was re-scheduled to hold on May 4th 2022. It also failed to hold on that date because of a public holiday declared in Abia State and since then none has been held,” he said.

Abaribe said they had also heard speculations that a list of ad-hoc delegates is in the custody of the NWC which is derived from a congress allegedly held on 6th May 2022, a development they said was not true.

Consequently, the stakeholders called on the NWC to disregard any list, “especially now that INEC has 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.”

The aspirants then called on the NWC to use only statutory (Automatic) delegates for the forthcoming primaries to avoid a looming disaster for aspirants at all levels in Abia State.

Abaribe said: “While doing this, we also wish to let the NWC know that we have also heard of plans to doctor the authentic Statutory Delegate list.

“We know who the statutory delegates are and have therefore as a matter of urgency applied for the Certified True Copy of the list from the National Organizing Secretary of the party and from INEC.

“We are therefore here in our party’s Abuja National headquarters to alert the party and the Nigerian public of this ugly development, which if not stopped, could spell doom for the party ahead of the 2023 general election not only in Abia State but in the South East as a whole.” (Daily Trust)