CONTROVERSY TRAILS ANAMBRA NORTH DELEGATES' PRIMARIES

By Enyim Enyim
The just concluded delegates' primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Anambra North senatorial zone was yesterday trailed by controversy as stakeholders in the area protested alleged irregularities in the exercise.

The exercise was held on December 29 last year by the Senator Fajemi-led committee but no result had been published a week after the election.

Rising from an emergency meeting of the stakeholders, PDP chieftains alleged that there was a grand design by the Dr Okwesieleze Nwodo-led national executive to impose the wife of former senate president, Lady  Margeri Okadigbo, a senatorial aspirant, on the people of the area.

Speaking to reporters shortly after the meeting, spokesman for the group, Chief Nnadi Okorie, said days after the exercise, the result of the election was yet to be made public for members to know where they stood.

'I want to tell you that it is only in Anambra State that a three-man committee would be sent to come and conduct an election of this nature without the state executive, as contained in our constitution,' he said.

According to him, the PDP constitution provides that such an election should be done with the party executive in the state, but this was cleverly avoided by the Fajemi committee sent by Nwodo.

'In fact, we heard from the gravevine that Nwodo is hell bent on making Margeri the senator for Anambra North senatorial zone which we must resist,' Okorie said.

He said the worrisome aspect was that the election was conducted with a photocopy of delegates' list which disappeared soon after the exercise.

Besides, he said the exercise was not monitored and supervised by either INEC or SSS, stressing that this had rendered the Fajemi election null and void and contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act.

'The Electoral Act is very clear on the issue. Candidates must emerge from primaries and that is what we are asking.

'Nwodo should not compromise democracy because of a relationship with one of the aspirants,' Okorie said.

The stakeholders called on the Nwodo-led national executive of the party to allow internal democracy reign supreme in the party to prevent further political crisis.