The Garba Umar Gubernatorial Campaign Organization has insisted on primaries election for all aspirants seeking political offices in Taraba state, stating that electoral guidelines must be strictly adhered to.
Umar Campaign organization in a statement signed by his Director General Ahmed Yusuf described the allocation of various PDP election tickets under the watch of some members of the National Working Committee as unlawful and not reflective of the wishes of the people.
According to the campaign organization, the group locked out the legally elected delegates and some constitutionally recognized special delegates from the primaries and instead inappropriately produced a list of “winners” that are completely strange to PDP members in Taraba State. “Some of the so-called “winners” had neither bought nomination forms nor screened for various elective positions allocated to them,” Yusuf said.
He said PDP as the leading political party in Nigeria has a well articulated and written constitution and guidelines for nomination of candidates for elections into the various elective positions in the country.
Yusuf wondered how about one hundred and seventy (170) people nominate a governorship candidate as well as all the other elective positions as opposed to the 750 delegates representing all Local Government Areas of the state.
The campaign group however vows not to accept any candidate produced outside the nationally prescribed guidelines for election.
He called on the party’s National Executive Council NEC and NWC to re-order the primaries in Taraba State to allow duly elected delegates to participate in the exercise.
“The good people of Taraba State should be accorded their own respect and right of nominating their own candidates on home soil. Anything short of this is completely unacceptable.”
He said he had always believed that the PDP offers the best option for the promotion and institutionalization of democratic ideals and granting its members a level playing field for the attainment of their political aspirations. “However, the events of last one week signals a very disturbing and disappointing development to the effect that some fifth columnists have infiltrated the party, threatening its very existence. whether this is the same PDP that has provided so much hope to Nigerians and had been a shining example to other Parties that have been mired in the controversies of god fathers, kangaroo primaries and cult of personalities.”
