Our attention has been drawn to a spurious petition against the Abia State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and Rt. Hon. Alwell Asiforo Okere which called for his sack from office as the State Chairman of the Party.
The petition, very poorly written and signed by some, characterless and faceless individuals, heaped numerous frivolous, unfounded, baseless and laughable allegations against the State Chairman. These allegations are at best, tissues of lies without any iota or truth. It has therefore become very necessary to put the records straight and inform faithful and the general public on the correct positions unfounded allegations.
1.At no time did the National Working Committee of the PDP cancel the conduct of the three-man delegate election in Abia State. The truth is that an interested party to the three-man delegate election had obtained a restraining order from a court of competent jurisdiction preventing the PDP from conducting the election in Abia on Saturday April 30, 2022. At the instance of the court order, the NWC put the conduct of the election on hold. Interestingly, the court order was vacated op Friday paving way for the possible conduct of the elections. The NWC met on the evening of that Friday April 29, 2022 and considered among other things the logistics ‘associated with the conduct; of the election the following day, April‘30 and in its wisdom decided to put it on hold with a promise to constitute an Ad Hoc committee that will conduct the election at a later date.
2.The said petition also alleged that the State Party Chairman had sent somebody to the National Headquarters of the Party in Abuja to collect materials for the conduct of the election. That is not true because those saddled with the responsibility of conducting the three-man delegates election are sent from the National Headquarters of the Party and it is customary for them to come alongside the materials meant for the exercise. The State Party Chairman did not at any time send anybody to Abuja to collect the election materials. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
3.The petition alleged that the State Party Chairman had secretly sold nomination forms to his preferred candidates for the election. That is another tissue of lies that vitiates from the operational procedures of the Party in the conduct of elections. In the prevailing circumstances, let it be known that the only nomination form for the 2023 elections that is on sale in Umuahia, Abia State is the House of Assembly nomination form. All other forms for the 2023 election; House of Representatives, Senate, Governorship and Presidential, including the three-man delegates nomination form are on sale at the Party Headquarters in Abuja and not at Umuahia as the petition alleged. It is not only false but also contrived to mislead the public and malign the character and integrity of the State Party Chairman.
4.On the double zoning arrangement for the governorship which the petition alleged was foisted on the Party by the State Chairman, let it be known that the State Chairman of the Party did not take a unilateral decision on that matter and therefore could not have foisted the decision on the Party. The decision to zone the governorship to Abia Central and Abia North was taken at a well-attended State Working Committee, SWC meeting. It is on record that 12 out of the 14 SWC members were in attendance at the meeting where the decision on the zoning of the governorship was taken. The only two members of the SWC who were absent at the meeting are the State Vice Chairman and Abia North Zonal Chairman, Hon. Elder Ama Abraham and the State Woman Leader, Lolo Christy Emenike. It is pertinent to state that 12 out of 14 members is more than enough of % membership which is required to constitute a quorum for the SWC to meet. Aside from that, none of the 12 members that attended the meeting where the decision on zoning was taken has come out publicly to say otherwise or claim that the State Chairman took a unilateral decision.
5.It is also on record that the enlarged members of the State Executive Committee, SEC of the Party approved and endorsed the decision of the SWC on the zoning arrangement for the governorship. It is therefore figment of the petitioners’ imaginations to say that the State Chairman foisted the double zoning on the Party.
6.During transition and electioneering periods world over, it is normal that the polity is always heated up politically, as politicians, aspirants, interest groups and political Parties struggle and juggle hard to field their preferred candidates and that is exactly what we are experiencing not just in Abia State but other States in the country. This is also not peculiar to PDP as we can see such sentiments on full display in other Parties in Nigeria. Despite the prevailing scenario, it is visible that Rt, Hon. Alwell A, Okere has managed the affairs of the Party efficiently to the delight of many and is working assiduously to put every political squabble in the Party under firm control. This is evidenced in the PDP winning elections in areas it had lost to the opposition, especially in Aba North and South Federal constituency.
Based on the strength of the foregoing, we call on the PDP faithful and the general public to disregard the petition considering that it is frivolous, unfounded, baseless and does not worth anybody’s attention.
We assure all aspirants to different elective positions that the Party under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Alwell A. Okere will provide a level playing field for everybody and guarantee free and fair elections across board. We call on all aspirants to maintain decorum and be very mindful of their conducts especially in this very auspicious time that our Party needs to maintain its lead in our dear State.
We use this opportunity to pass a vote of confidence on the ability of our State Party Chairman, Rt. Hon. Alwell Asiforo Okere to continue to steer the ship of our great Party to greater heights.
Signed:
BY THE ENLARGE STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE PARTY (PDP).
