Dr. Tony Nwoye, an aspirant in the June 26 Anambra Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary, has withdrawn from the process just a few hours to the commencement of the exercise.
Nwoye stated that his action followed the exclusion of the party’s newly-elected ad-hoc delegates and executive members from the process.
In a statement issued on Saturday morning in Awka, ahead of the election, Nwoye said that with the exclusion of 94 per cent of the delegates, only 6 per cent of the delegates would choose the candidate.
The statement was signed by Nwoye and made available to journalists in Awka as well as to PDP faithful in the area.
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Nwoye said the decision has turned the process into a mockery of democracy, adding that those excluded were the engine room of the party whom he would have depended on to win the primary and the main elections.
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, citing court orders, excluded the ad-hoc delegates and party executives at all levels from partaking in the election.
Given the decision, the party left only serving and former office holders belonging to the party to choose the party’s candidate for the November 6, 2021, governorship election in the state.
“We all have been witnesses to the disconcerting flurry of events in our party in the last 36 hours.
“These are developments which should be of grave concern to every true democrat and believer in the inalienability of the rights of true party people to freely choose the party’s flag bearer in the upcoming gubernatorial elections in our beloved state, Anambra.
“On Thursday, I was still traversing the hinterland, ahead of the primaries, slated for Saturday, June 26, when I was jolted by the news of the party’s National Working Committee’s (NWC) release concerning the party’s primaries.
“In the NWC release, the entire ward level executives, local government executives and State executives and also the elected ad hoc delegates who emerged from the duly conducted delegates election, will no longer be voting in the primaries election.
“Instead, only a handful of automatic/super delegates whose names appeared in a made-up list will be deciding who flies the party’s flag at the governorship polls.
“Owing to this development, I consulted with my supporters, most of whom are the bedrock of our Party at the grassroots level where I belong, and my ever-supportive family, and came to the inevitable conclusion that the process had been greatly flawed,” he concluded. (NAN)