By Janet Francis, Jalingo
In Taraba State, aggrieved members of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), have denounced the primary election that produced Latifu Kolawale Abiola as the party’s Presidential flag bearer for the 2023 election.
The protesters in large numbers who staged the street in Jalingo, the state capital, protested against the primary election that was held on the 5th of June 2022 and demanded that the NWC should as a matter of urgency return the party’s presidential ticket to Patience Ndidi.
The state Secretary of the party and leader of the protest, Mr. Samuel Emmanuel said that the exercise was a complete fraud, adding that imposition of candidate and godfatherism is not the PRP ideology.
According to him, the exercise suffered from substantial non-compliance with the Constitution of the party, the Electoral Act 2022, and the party’s guidelines for the conduct of the
primaries.
The protesters were sighted carrying placards with different inscriptions, disowning Latifu Kolawale Abiola as the party’s Presidential candidate, chanting “Patience Key is our rightful choice.”
They further described the declaration of Abiola by the NEC as the winner of the primary as a fabrication, a deliberate act to misguide the delegates and undermine the integrity of the process in his favor.
“It is such an undemocratic act perpetuated by the leadership of the party at the national level that has continued to give the supporters of Madam Patience Ndidi Key a cause for concern.
“PRP is our party, and we will stick to it and make sure that Nigeria becomes great by the intervention of our party, but we must first put our house in order and show true democracy.
“Therefore, this is our prayer that the leadership of the party should give back the mandate of Patience Ndidi to her and immediately withdraw the nomination filed in favor of Kola Abiola.
“We described the presidential primary on 5th June 2022 that brought in Latifu Kolawale Abiola as illegal, it was not an election as it did not follow the guidelines of the party or the electoral law, this is because of the unlawful interference of the NEC.
They also called on the members of NEC to please return their mandate which is Patience Ndidi as the party’s presidential candidate for the forthcoming election.
They, however, appealed to the National Working Committee of the to intervene in the matter to forestall an impending crisis.
REACH-24 