Ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party presidential primaries slated for May 29, 2022, BEN OGBEMUDIA takes a cursory look at the issues from different states

It is now certain that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will hold its state assembly, representatives, senatorial, governorship, and presidential primaries from Monday 23 to 29, 2022.

But the hurdle before the party as it kicks starts the primaries is the crisis emanating from one state to another.

Some of the states like Edo, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Osun, Oyo, Imo, Ebonyi, Lagos, and Ogun are facing ad-hoc delegates’ crises.

Worried over the way the ad-hoc delegates’ election was conducted in Abia State, Senator Eyinanya Abaribe, stormed the national secretariat of the party last week, warning that if an urgent step was not taken, PDP will be walking towards self-destruction.

Abaribe, who is the Senate Minority Leader and governorship aspirant in Abia, said it was no longer news that the PDP in the state has been grappling with self-inflicted problems that could lead to a major destructive implosion.

Addressing journalists at the PDP secretariat in Abuja, Abaribe, who spoke on behalf of Abia PDP stakeholders and governorship aspirants said the centre of the vexed issues was the obvious manipulation by a tiny segment of the state executive committee to subvert the democratic process, which is geared towards achieving a predetermined goal of imposition at all levels.

The senate minority leader said there was not and has never been any ward congress to elect the three-man ad-hoc delegates in Abia.

He said the congress, earlier scheduled to hold on April 30 was cancelled due to a court order and, therefore, could not hold.

“It was rescheduled to hold on May 4, it also failed to hold on that date because of a public holiday declared in Abia State and since then none has been held, neither has there been any communication for another congress by PDP National Headquarters.

“This can be verified via an official letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that confirmed the last official communication between it and PDP to the effect that no congresses to elect the three-man ad-hoc delegates for the party primary elections has held up till today (See Attachment)

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“We heard via rumours that there is a list of ad-hoc delegates flying around and in the custody of the NWC purporting it to have been a product of a congress held on May 6.

“It is preposterous that what is being bandied as a list emanated from an imaginary congress conducted via a letter of notice to the Abia State Resident Electoral Commissioner signed by the Abia State Chairman of the PDP, Mr Allwell Okere.
“The implication is that the functions of NEC and NWC were performed by a State Chairman of the party and NOT the National Chairman and Secretary of PDP.

“Our great party should, therefore, disregard any of such list especially now that INEC has come forward to clarify that it neither received any communication from the PDP National Chairman and the National Secretary to participate nor did it monitor any such exercise as required by both the INEC guidelines for political parties Section 1.2 which stipulates a mandatory seven-day notice to INEC and Section 82(5) of the Electoral Act 2022.
“The National Legal adviser, we believe, knows the implications of going ahead to use such legally unknown delegates in the primary elections and should advise the NWC accordingly, unless the party wants to enjoy the unenviable luxury of walking towards self-destruction.

“We, therefore, urge the NWC of our great party to use only statutory (automatic) delegates for the forthcoming primaries to avoid a looming disaster for all our aspirants at all levels in Abia State. While doing this we also wish to let the NWC know that we have also heard of plans to doctor the authentic statutory delegate list.”
In Edo, there is still no end in sight to the crisis rocking the state chapter of the PDP, despite the reconciliation committee set up by the national leadership of the party to resolve the internal squabbles tearing the state’s chapter apart.

In the last year, it has been loyalists of Governor Godwin Obaseki versus that of the National Vice-Chairman of PDP (South-South), Chief Dan Orbih. A cohort fight that political observers dubbed the new PDP against the old PDP.
At the state level, there had been altercations on several occasions over internal party affairs, particularly the sharing of appointments between those that held the fort, prepared the pathway for Obaseki to drive through to Edo State seat of power, and those that joined him from the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the way to victory.

This time, the issue on the ground is shaking the party’s pole on which its flag is attached, and ripping the fabric of the governing party in the state which took them eight years in opposition to mend before it was hoisted at the Dennis Osadebey House in 2020.

Beyond disagreements over political appointments, the fight, at the moment, boils down to electing delegates to participate in the presidential primary of the party.

The media had been awash with aggrieved members of the party shopping for court injunctions and publishing advertorials in newspapers ahead of the primaries scheduled for the various positions being jostled by aspirants for the 2023 general election in the state.

The order of interim injunctions came on the back of controversies that trailed the outcome of the ad hoc delegates who emerged from the party’s ward congress conducted on Saturday, April 30, 2022.

Before the commencement of the ward congress, Kingsley Emu, chairman of the Edo PDP ward congress electoral committee, while addressing the State Working Committee at the party secretariat in Benin City, said the ward congresses would produce 576 ad-hoc delegates from the 192 wards ahead of the party’s primaries.

Emu explained that each ward is expected to produce three ad hoc delegates in line with the party guidelines.

“The process starts from the ward. We have 192 wards in Edo State and 18 local government areas, and the congress is expected to produce 576 delegates for the election with one national from every local government area.

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“When we say the processes start from the ward, it means that there shall be congresses in each ward as every ward is expected to produce its ad-hoc delegate. The report is then forwarded to the local government monitoring committee and sent to the State Secretariat, where the final collation is done,” Emu said.

Dissatisfied with the result of the congress to elect the delegates for the state and National Assembly primaries, some sections of the party approached the federal high court to restrain the PDP; its National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu; Samuel Anyanwu; Umar Bature, and INEC from allowing Edo State delegates to vote at the forthcoming national convention.

In the suit, with reference number: FHC/ABJ/CS/ 598/2022, the plaintiffs, who are five in number, sought an ex-parte order, and claimed the suit was filed on behalf of the 576 ad hoc delegates elected on April 30, 2022.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, the trial judge, granted the order restraining PDP, and others from Edo delegates vote at the national convention slated for Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29, 2022, respectively, or any other date on which it may be rescheduled, unless such delegates were elected by the plaintiffs and the other 571 ad hoc delegates, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

This order came after an Edo State High Court refused to grant an interim injunction seeking to restrain the PDP and its national chairman, Ayu, from allowing the ad-hoc delegates that emerged from the party’s ward congress to participate in the party’s primary election.

To address the grievances that arose from the congress held across the 192 wards in Edo State to elect 576 ad-hoc delegates ahead of the party primaries as well as to forestall disagreements between members of the party, a three-man Electoral Appeal Panel was set up by the national leadership of the party.

The panel led by Chukwuka Utazi, assured of timely hearing of the petitions.

In Enugu, there was an alleged attempt to mislead the court in their bid to prove that the PDP Constitution and guidelines for the election of three-man delegates and national delegates in the election of 780 ad-hoc delegates on April 30 ward congress across the 260 wards of the state were duly followed.

Controversy has trailed the April 30 exercise in Enugu following the allegation that while a section of Enugu PDP leaders followed the party’s guidelines, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and the leadership of the party in the state handed a list of ad-hoc delegates allegedly generated four days to the real exercise to the Prince Vincent Amaabai-led PDP national panel.

The Enugu State PDP, coordinated by Chief Augustine Nnamani, Dr Festus Uzoh, and others had quickly put together some members of the party loyal to the governor to institute a case in the Enugu State High Court, seeking to have their list upheld as the authentic ad-hoc delegates list.

Consequent upon the lawsuit marked E/379/2022, which has PDP; PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu; PDP National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu; PDP National Organising Secretary, Bature Mohammed; Chairman, Enugu State Chapter of the PDP, Chief Augustine Nnmani; among others as Defendants, the Plaintiffs, namely Prince Paul Nnaji and Ors also got an ex-parte order from Justice Harold Eya’s court restraining the Defendants from recognising or giving effect to any other three-man ad-hoc delegates list other than the list that emerged from the congress held on April 30, 2022, pending the hearing of the Motion on Notice.

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Meanwhile, the Plaintiffs, in the bid to prove that only those on the list in question purchased nomination forms and therefore validly stood for the three-man delegates’ election, showed receipts for the nomination forms to prove their case.

However, it was discovered that whereas the PDP Guidelines duly signed by the National Chairman and National Secretary pegged the cost ward ad-hoc delegates forms at N5,000, the purported official receipts exhibited as Exhibit “E” bearing Prince Paul Nnaji, Exhibit “F” bearing Onu Tobias Ogbonna, and Exhibit “H” bearing Agbo Kelvin Ikechukwu bears N50,000 each.

Ironically and contrary to the claim that Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s supporters who participated in the exercise and had also applied and were joined in the suit did not purchase nomination forms as stipulated by PDP guidelines, their lawyers exhibited authentic receipt of payment of N5,000 for each form.

Meanwhile, concerned leaders of the PDP in Anambra State, led by the former National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, stormed the party secretariat to complain about the way and manner the National Working Committee of the party is handling the delegates’ lists from the state.

As the various primary elections commence this week, Nigerians are closely watching how the PDP will surmount the crises that have currently engulfed the ad-hoc lists.