The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday asked the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other political parties to “borrow a leaf from us” with regards to conduct of party primaries.
The party has also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to be objective and abide by the rules of the electoral process during the forthcoming governorship polls in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
The Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, stated this yesterday when issuing certificates of return to the Governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada and his Bayelsa State, counterpart, Henry Seriake Dickson.
They had emerged guber candidates of PDP ahead of the governorship polls.
Kogi State guber election will hold on November 21, while that of Bayelsa will hold on December 5, this year.
Secondus, who described Bayelsa and Kogi as traditional PDP states, charged: “INEC and other agencies to play by the rules of the game so that elections will be won and lost fairly. No one should try to take it by force.”
He stated that no “amount of rumour or intimidation can take the states from PDP. These are traditional PDP states.”
According to him, “while we don’t know what other parties are planning but we are planning civilised elections.”
He stressed that the outcome of the primaries was the “first time that we can beat our cheat and say internal democracy has taken place,” saying this is “completely a new PDP from what we used to know.”
He further underscored the transparency of the primaries, noting that members of other political parties “had to call me that those were demonstration of complete free and fair primaries.”
He said that the party would continue to improve on primaries of both states, boasting that it had “brought several support and rekindled confidence that everyone has a right to contest if you are qualified.”
He said that PDP was fully ready for the election in the state, noting: “We don’t know what other parties are doing. We don’t know if they are planning to rig election. We are ready to run a civilised election.”
He further lampooned the change mantra of the APC saying the country was yet to see it.
“We have not seen any change yet. Economy is biting harder; jobs are lost. Companies are folding away and relocating from Nigeria. People are suffering. The answer is PDP in Kogi and Bayelsa states.”
On his part, the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, reiterated that no amount of intimidation would rob PDP of Bayelsa State.
He said: “No intimidation and propaganda will rob PDP of Bayelsa. We are hopeful that authorities and institutions will play according to the rules.”
The governor also lampooned the APC for failing to conduct primaries in Bayelsa State, describing it as a show of shame, which did not end with a winner.
He, however, congratulated the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, for overseeing the PDP primaries hailing him for not “sneaking out to eat.”
He added: “As we speak I am the only one standing with a certificate of return” in the state.
Dickson, however, noted that he had directed that a stadium be made available, remain open to the APC hoping that there would not be bloodshed and violence.
On his part, the Kogi State governor, Wada, described the primaries in his state as a tedious process. While he thanked the party for its leadership style, he assured that he was “continuing very serious efforts of reconciliation to bring members together for battle ahead.”
He further expressed confidence that PDP would win the election in Kogi State.