The breakaway faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chaired by Alhaji Abubakar Baraje-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has denied reports from the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur faction that the meeting with President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the Presidential Villa on Sunday 15th September 2013 yielded positive results, describing reports of agreeing that Jonathan can contest in 2015 as “tissue of lies and propaganda.”
In a statement released by its spokesperson, Mr Eze Chukwuemeka, the faction branded various accounts of what transpired at the meeting between the progressive governors — Governors Kwankwaso of Kano, Wamakko of Sokoto, Amaechi of Rivers, Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Nyako of Adamawa, Ahmed of Kwara and Lamido of Jigawa — with President Jonathan as misleading.
It urged Nigerians and its supporters to ignore the concocted tales of Governor of Akwa Ibom State and Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Godswill Akpabio for lying by claiming that they accepted that President Jonathan should contest the 2015 presidential election and that most of their demands were about to be met.
“The fact of the case is that no agreement has been reached on any of the issues we tabled before the president and until we see results, Nigerians should ignore the present efforts by the Tukur camp to deceive them,” read a part of the statement.
It played down the controversies surrounding the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential election, saying PDP has a mechanism and system of electing their standard-bearers for any election; and until the time to choose the party’s presidential standard-bearer comes, any speculation on that is just mere academic exercise.
“Just few hours after Sunday’s meeting between the progressive governors and the president, Tukur’s faction once more showed its disdain for peace by unilaterally setting up a Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of our Kano chapter.
“This was done without recourse to either the leader of the party in Kano State, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso or other stakeholders of the party from Kano. This illegality is clear violation of our party’s constitution and was hurriedly done just to spite Kwankwaso, the party leader in the state.
“We hereby urge our people in Kano State to ignore this illegality, as we have set in motion the machinery to organise a proper election as stipulated by our party’s constitution.
“We are still at a loss why Tukur and his cohorts do not want peace to reign in PDP, but no matter the odds we are very determined to ensure that peace is restored to our party with the prayers of Nigerians. Along this line, we once more appreciate the efforts of our party elders to resolve the current crisis bedevilling our party and wish them success irrespective of the evil designs of Tukur’s faction to elongate the crisis for selfish reasons.”
Already, the Kano State government has dismissed the appointment of a caretaker committee for the party in the state.
Speaking with the media on Wednesday, Special Adviser to the Governor on Sports, Alhaji Ahmed Shu’aibu-Gara described the appointment of as contravening the party’s constitution.
“From preamble to declaration in the party constitution, there is no where it provides for a caretaker arrangement as bridging model for any available vacuum whatsoever.
“Besides appointing a caretaker for 90 days for Kano State, there is nothing to take care of; rather it is a careless undertaking that is dead on arrival because it is pregnant with intent.”
Shu’aibu-Gara commended the state chapter of the party for demonstrating enormous responsibility and uncommon respect to the party’s constitution by formally notifying its leadership on 26th July that the tenure of the state executive committee was to expire on 23rd August.
Still on PDP matters, the legal team of the party led by Joe Gadzama has insisted that the party has duly nominated Tony Nwoye as its governorship candidate in line with the electoral act, despite Tuesday’s court ruling nullifying Nwoye’s candidature as candidate for the 16th November Anambra State governorship election and upholding Nicholas Ukachukwu as candidate.
Writing to Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Gadzama noted that the judgment has come exactly on the deadline for political parties to submit names of candidates to the commission, saying the party had met the deadline by submitting the name of its candidate, Hon. Tony Nwoye, and duly completing nomination forms acknowledged by the commission.
PDP also filed a Notice of Appeal against the judgment, as well as a Motion for Stay of Execution at the Court of Appeal.
“By this very fact, all matters relating to this judgment are meant to be stayed. In other words, the status quo must be maintained pending the Appeal,” Gadzama wrote.
“Based on the outcome of the primaries conducted by the party, it issued a certificate of return to Hon. Tony Nwoye and submitted his name to the Commission in respect of the Anambra State Governorship Election.
“The effect in law is that Nicholas Ukachukwu is bound by the list, wherein the name of Hon. Tony Nwoye was submitted and the party cannot retract that list or substitute the name of Hon. Tony Nwoye with that of Nicholas Ukachukwu unless Hon. Tony Nwoye withdraws his candidature or dies. This is the purport of sections 31(1), 33 and 35 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended) which read thus:
“31(1) Every political party shall not later than 60 days before the date appointed for a general election under the provisions of this Act, submit to the Commission in the prescribed forms the list of the candidates the Party proposes to sponsor at the elections, provided that the Commission shall not reject or disqualify candidates for any reason whatsoever.
“33. A Political Party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted pursuant to Section 31 of this of this Act, except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate.
“35. A candidate may withdraw his candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered by himself to the Political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the Commission and which shall only be allowed not later than 45 days to the election.”
He added that since everyone can see that Hon. Tony Nwoye is still very much alive and has not withdrawn his candidacy for the said elections, PDP’s submission of his name is therefore, final unless any of the two instances cited above occurs.
“In other words, once a candidate has been nominated by his party and his name submitted to the Commission that is the end of the issue of the nomination of the candidate unless he withdraws or dies. Not even the court can stop such nomination,” he said.
