Nathan Tamarapreye
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders at Ezebiri in Bomodi LGA Delta on Wednesday urged the party’s leader Gov Ifeanyi Okowa to resist moves to substitute candidates who emerged victorious at the primaries ahead council polls.
The party stakeholders, Emmanuel Korokoro, James Ogori and Sunday Lagos, who hail from the area made the appeal in an open letter to the governor on the brewing crisis sparked off by attempts to jettison the primaries and substitute elected candidates.
They said that upholding the results from the primaries conducted across the state would ensure internal democracy in the party.
He urged Okowa to call some party leaders from the area to refrain imposing candidates who did not participate in the party’s primaries by submitting their names as candidates in the forthcoming local government elections.
According to the letter, the stakeholders said that there were moved by influential members of the party from the area to impose their favoured candidate who did not bother to participate in the party primaries.
They urged Okowa to call Alawei Broderick Bozimo to order and ensure that only the candidates who participated in the primaries would fly the party’s flag in the polls adding that such would strengthen party cohesion and victory in the general elections.
“We applaud the leadership of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa and appeal to his sense of sound judgement and ideals of our party to check the overbearing influence of leaders who want to foist their cronies in breach of party ideals of internal democracy.
“We have it in good authority that are plans to substitute the name of the candidate who emerged from the primaries from Bomodi Ward 19 in the person of Mr Ramsey Nuware who beat his rival Mr Fezi College and others in the contest.
“We urge the party to uphold the results declared before party delegates at the primaries conducted by Madam Fere-Ere GBE who served as returning officer. Doing so would be in the overall interest of the party and brighten its chances in the local government election.” The party stalwarts said.
It will be recalled that PDP in Delta held primaries across the wards in Delta on Dec 21 to elect candidates for councillorship and chairmanship positions in the forthcoming council polls slated for March 6.