Barely three weeks after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) conducted its governorship primary in Anambra State, one of the aspirants, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, yesterday questioned the credibility of the primary and vowed to achieve justice in the court of law.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Ubah accused the leaders of the party of using fake delegates’ list to conduct the primary, adding that the certified copy of the list he got from Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was different from what was used at the primary.
Kicking against the primary, the Chairman of Capital oil described it as a show of shame, adding that Oseloka Obaze, who was declared winner, was never given a waiver by the party National Executive Committee (NEC).
Ubah, who said that he has exhausted all internal mechanism of the party, added that “I think it is the court that can address the situation now. We are going to court and if the party comes back to address the situation that will be fine.
“In the quest for justice, I submit myself to fight this illegality and injustice for my sake as well as that of anyone who aspires to contest under the party’s platform and I hope that justice will prevail in the end.”
He said that the primary conducted on August 28th,
2017 “was all but a show of shame as it was marred by obvious irregularities, leaving little to be desired and more questions than answers from the relevant authorities and party officials.
“At best, to any discerning mind, the primary election was a perfection of a preconceived orchestrated plot by His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State and His Excellency, the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, alongside selected cabal members of the several committees for this election set up by PDP to rob well-meaning Anambrarians off their earnest yearning for a candidate and eventual governor with a robust pedigree and a time-tested proof of love for the people.”
Ubah said that though the primary was duly monitored by INEC and other relevant agencies, but the list of delegates were hoarded, starving aspirants of the most important tool needed for the campaign to commence, adding that all the aspirants complained against this development except Obaze.
“In view of this, all the aspirants but Mr. Oseloka Obaze condemned the entire process and requested that the primary election be stepped down as the party was clearly not ready owing to the time the list was made available to aspirants which was the night of Saturday, 26th of August 2017 for an election scheduled to be conducted on Monday, 28th of August, 201, giving aspirants less than 48 hours to tour round Anambra State canvassing for votes.
“In spite of the misgivings expressed about the process leading to the election, the Governor Dave Umahi-led committee, acting true to type, threw caution to the wind, completely ignored the calls for the primary election to be stepped down and decided to go ahead with the exercise which eventually ended up on a dramatic note.
“As a result, four aspirants including Prince John Emeka, Mr. Akolisa Ofodile, Sen. Stella Oduah and Linda Ikpeazu withdrew from the race on account of an alleged plot to impose a particular candidate on the vast majority of party loyalists in Anambra State.
“On Sunday, 27th of August, 2017, when the list was published, it was totally different from the list INEC had certified and made available to me. Unfortunately, there was no-one to complain to,” he said.
Speaking further, Ubah said that “It was discovered that the list provided by Governor Nyesom Wike and his committee members through Governor Dave Umahi was totally different from the list certified by INEC. This list was also different from the list which was pasted and given to the aspirants by PDP.
“Following this flawed process, there were many complaints of accredited delegates being sidelined, replacing them with a new set of delegates. This glaring racket caused by the Dave Umahi-led committee saw a majority of the accredited delegates tear gassed and thrown into a state of confusion as well as disenfranchised.
“This sinister move caused a heavy distraction in the process and allowed those who were not in the INEC certified delegate list be smuggled in and manipulated to vote for an aspirant who was imposed on them by Peter Obi.”
The Capital oil boss also pointed out that there were irregularities in the votes count.
Speaking on why Obaze should not be declared winner of the primary, Ubah said, “It is also pertinent to state that Mr. Oseloka Obaze is not qualified to contest in the Anambra State governorship primary election as he did not get the requisite waiver from the party owing to the fact that he had just been in the party for four months as against the mandatory requirement of being a party member for at least two years as enshrined in the PDP Constitution.”
