THE PRIMARY ELECTION THAT WOULD NOT BE For 23 months, I have prepared for today; a day that has finally come. Yet it comes as a disappointment. Despite my observations and complaints about the hijack of the State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party by an ethnic non- governmental organisation, propagating the agenda of a person who masqueraded an orchestrated plan to be Governor under building support and fighting for Mr. President; conscious or unconscious subjugation of the PDP to personal interest; oppressive administration of the Party; the flaunted partisanship of State Party Officers in favour of an aspirant; refusal to register new party members; and unconstitutional composition of Ward, Local Government and State Executives of the Party, I have continued to believe that justice would be done within the PDP. At each turn, those charged with responsibilities for remedying the situation just refuse to take action. Even the national leadership is yet to release and act on the report of a National Integration Committee (South-South), which was set up to address numerous complaints by aggrieved members. Against this background, the Wards Congresses were scheduled. I protested and requested the National Chairman and Secretary to postpone the Congresses in Rivers State pending the outcome of the report of the National Integration Committee. That request was not honoured and the Congresses were purported to have been held. Thereafter, 15 other aspirants and I called for their cancellation. In response, the National leadership of our Party reconvened the National Integration Committee (South-South), which took more evidence from the aggrieved parties. Their report, submitted to the National Working committee, has since remained unattended to. Despite interventions for PDP founding fathers and mothers and elder of Rivers State, our great Party has refused to address the complaints. Yet we are expected to participate in the Governorship Primary Election. Given the choice of participating in the Primary Election and losing the right to complain about the process on the one hand; and abstaining and holding the moral high ground against injustice and oppression on the other hand, some of my colleagues and I have chosen to stay away from the Primary election. The whole exercise is a sham with a determined outcome. I would not lend credence to an illegality. “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed;We are perplexed, but not in despair;persecuted, but not forsaken;struck down, but not destroyed …” Hon. Nimi Walson-Jack
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 12:06:36 +0000
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