A governorship aspirant in Plateau State, Patrick Dakum, has revealed why he and other governorship aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress staged a walk-out during the party’s governorship primary held in Jos last Thursday.
The PUNCH had reported that, during the Plateau APC governorship primary, which
produced a former Independent National Electoral Commission commissioner, Nentawe Yilwatda, as the winner last Thursday, more than 10 governorship aspirants, including Dakum and the state Deputy Governor, Sonni Tyoden, had staged a walk-out at the Langfied Resort in Jos, venue of the primary.
Dakum, who spoke with journalists in Jos on Monday on behalf of his colleagues, for the first time after the primary, described the exercise as fraudulent and unacceptable.
Dakum said, “We are not happy over the outcome of the Plateau APC governorship primary because what happened last Thursday was not an election but a sham.
“It is sad that during the primary, the local government area that started the election (Qua’an-Pan LGA), only two delegates could write, and others were not allowed even when it was obvious that most of them were literate. The same thing played out in other local government areas.
“The venue was flooded with local government council chairmen, and officials were around to influence who delegates would vote for as the delegates were not given the opportunity to freely cast their votes for the aspirant of their choice as an agent of one of the aspirants was the one writing and voting on behalf of the delegates.
“There was a lot of intimidation of the delegates, you could see them being very terrified as you could see government officials hovering all over the place to ensure the delegates go a particular direction.
“The election was highly compromised, marred by intimidation of delegates by siblings, relations of the governor and top government officials in the state and other avoidable irregularities that tampered with its integrity.
“When it was obvious and glaring that the venue had been infiltrated by top government officials, siblings and relations of the governor, who were not delegates and were determined to give the party’s ticket to a particular aspirant against the will of the people, we then decided to walk out of the venue in protest because we won’t be part of such irregularities.”
Dakum said all the aggrieved aspirants had channelled their complaints to the Appeal Committee of the party and were awaiting the verdict to know the next line of action.
He pointed out that if nothing was done about their petition, he would consult with the stakeholders and people who believe in his Consolidation Vision to take the appropriate decision.
“I will also put my ears to the spiritual ground to know the conviction God is giving me in my heart, if I am to stay in the party and work for it and the candidate or otherwise, these are possibilities,” he said.
The governorship aspirant urged his supporters to stay calm and peaceful as they engaged the leadership of the party to look into the issues presented.
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