With less than 24 hours to its national elective convention, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said it has uncovered a plot by the federal government and ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to disrupt the exercise.
Spokesman of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, who disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja Thursday, said: “There are plots by the ruling party to disrupt our national convention. ”We are aware of the machinations of the ruling party who are afraid of the election to halt the efforts of the opposition to elect a candidate to go into a contest with President Muhammadu Buhari.”
Asked to clarify the alleged plots, the publicity scribe said the moves could be in diverse ways, saying “It can be any form of machinations, it could be by court, or any other form and we are alerting Nigerians of the efforts to stop our national convention.”
He, however, said no intimidating tactics would stop the convention from going ahead.
Asked if the senator representing Ogun East, Buruji Kashamu, was still a member of the party, Ologbondiyan had this to say: “You are aware that the person you have mentioned had issues with the party and the party has taken a decision.”
He noted that the party had written to all formations of government to notify them of the convention slated for Port Harcourt, adding that accreditation would be done at the point of entry into the convention venue.
Meanwhile, all organs of the party will meet today with the presidential aspirants and key stakeholders to deliberate on a wide range of issues, particularly the conduct of the convention.
Meanwhile, elder statesman, Tanko Yakassai, has written a strong-worded letter to the both the party and delegates to elect only the best for the country.
He also warned against the resort to picking the candidate through consensus method so as not to create any form of disagreement and dampen the interest of the aspirants.
Yakasai, who is a former Presidential Liaison Officer, said in a statement yesterday that it was imperative for the PDP to allow for credible election for the best candidate to emerge through a competitive, democratic process without discrimination, let or hindrance.
Yakasai also counselled that all those who bought the PDP presidential forms should be treated as equal and be chosen freely based on merit and not through any undemocratic means.
“The party’s rival, APC, has already settled for the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. PDP has decided long ago to zone the position of the presidential candidate to the North. Consequently, a number of aspirants from the three geopolitical zones in the region are vying for the slot.
“According to both Nigerian and PDP constitutions, every qualified Nigerian can contest for the position.
”I observed in recent times, where more than one candidate is vying for nomination in an election contest a new trend has emerged in Nigerian electoral process by which aspirants are subjected to pressure for a so-called consensus candidate, which in my opinion is against the spirit and tenets of true democracy.
“Delegates should be allowed to choose candidate of their freewill. That is true democracy. Competition is the fundamental issue in a democracy. Any election that does not allow people to freely make their choice is in violation of the basic requirements of a democratic free choice.
“All candidates who expressed desire to seek nomination at the coming PDP convention should be treated as common brothers without any discrimination, let or hindrance, and the choice should absolutely be based on merit, capacity and competence.
“As a patriotic non-partisan Nigerian, I wish to appeal to the party leaders and the delegates alike to the convention to allow democracy to take its natural course.”
