As the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) stakeholders make last minutes efforts to strengthen control of party machineries, ahead of the primaries, Anambra elders have cautioned the party’s National Working Committee ( NWC) against subverting the peoples will.
Ahead of the party primaries which begins with the election of candidates for the state Houses of Assembly seats on Saturday (May 21, 2022), the party’s former Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, on Thursday said the party must comply with its rules of engagements, to ensure fairness.
Metuh, while addressing Journalists at the PDP national secretariat, Wadata House, Abuja, hinted of plans by unnamed godfathers to doctor the list of the delegates for the primaries and urged the NWC not to succumb to such pressures.
He stated that the Anambra state PDP, had a ward Congress, Local Government Congress all recognized by NWC and backed with Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) report, adding that “the only thing remaining is for the Working Committee to go ahead and conduct the state Congress and primaries for us.
“Surprisingly, and curiously, they choose to delay the process on grounds of the fact that there was an order to stop them or recognize a different faction, later, a court judgment recognised and affirmed the same list backed by INEC.
“We have noticed the unwillingness on the part of the Working Committee and the national chairman to proceed with the process hence the need for us to go public and plead with the national chairman and the National Working Committee as the custodians of the party administration to please effect the will of the people and recognize the ward and local government Congress.
“It’s imperative that the national chairman and the National Working Committee obey that list which is the wish of the people any other thing will mean that is a conspiracy to throw our state into a competition and uphold Godfather over the will and wishes of Anambra people.
Read also: Why PDP must move presidential primary venue to Lagos – Bode George
Metuh, while insisting that democracy belongs to the people, added that “the people have spoken, We all know what the people want, know where they want to go to, in the national convention.
“That’s why we’re pleading with the National Working Committee to come to our aid, by giving back the will of the people in Anambra state,” Metuh said.
He noted that the party’s national chairman has tried to conduct a ward and local government congress that’s basically very transparent free and fair, and prayed that “God gives him the courage to sustain the results that will come up with such a transparent process that is our prayer, may God give him courage to sustain it”.
“We have had problems in Anambra State for the past two or three months. And we decided to allow the NWC to handle this issue. But having exhausted all the patience, all the negotiations, all the reports, with the various stakeholders, it is necessary to bring this issue to the notice of the public.” he said.
