Aspirants for the Rivers State House of Assembly and Federal House of Representatives under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the leadership of the party in the state of refusal to issue them nomination forms.
The aggrieved aspirants who made the accusation when they stormed the state secretariat of the party in Port Harcourt alleged that they were been denied the nomination forms even after payment and attaching the necessary bank tellers as directed by the national leadership of the party.
The intending lawmakers, therefore protested what they described as an alleged plot to shut them out from participating in the 2023 elections despite their huge supporters based.
Speaking on the issue, an aspirant for Ikwerre/Emohua Federal constituency, Hon. Kinikanwo Ogbu told our Reporters that the refusal by the party executive in the state to issue them with nomination forms to enable them participate in the election was unacceptable.
On their own part state House of Assembly aspirants, Hon. Unity Hekerem, Sam Mmeah and Hon. Ibinye Igoni-Wilcox for Emohua, Gokana and Bonny state Constituencies respectively said they had gone to pickup their expression of interest and nomination forms but regretted that the state chairman, Amb. Desmond Akawor and his executive were all absent the whole day at the party secretariat.
“We have paid for our forms and with us is our bank draft. We came here since morning, Desmond Akawor and his executive are not here but we want our forms”, they said.
Reacting to the development, PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Tambari Sydney Gbara expressed shock over the action of the aspirants who according to him embarked on a failed attempt to disparage the integrity of the Party by staging an unwarranted protest over alleged inability to obtain their Expression of Intent and Nomination forms for various positions.
Gbara doubted if the protesters were actually members of the PDP. “We doubt if they are actually members of our party, because if they are, they would have been better informed”.
He said”We want to state it clearly here that all forms are printed and sold at the National Secretariat in Abuja as approved by National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NEC) of the Party.
“Our State Secretariat is not selling forms and has no business with the sales of forms, only the National Secretariat is saddled with the responsibility of doing so. The truth is that aspirants in the State with the intention to buy forms were directed on how to go about it and obtain their forms, no money was paid to PDP Rivers State Chapter for Nomination forms.
“Therefore, it is rather too absurd for a group of people to without prior notice, storm the Secretariat making frivolous claims of paying money to the National Secretariat of our Party and were told to come and pick up their forms in Port Harcourt.
“Let us ask those who made this bogus claims the following questions; was it a coincidence that about 40 persons were denied issuance of form at the same time and why did they wait to the last days of issuing of form to protest brandishing what looked like a receipt, if there is nothing sinister. Forms are obtained where payments are made”.
He however urged the aggrieved members to go back to where ever they paid for their forms, to obtain them, and party faithfuls not to allow themselves to be used by enemies of the Party to truncate the peaceful process going on in the Party to elect those that will fly our flag in the forth coming general election
