C’river PDP feigns ignorance of aspirants list for by- election
THE Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) has insisted that it is unaware of the delegates list for the September 5, 2020 primary, as all litigants have closed their cases against the exercise.
It stated this, while reacting to cases of the state and National Assembly Petition Tribunal for the December 5, 2020 Cross River North Senatorial District by- election sitting in Calabar.
The delegates list issue has been controversial as the High Court in Port Harcourt had declared that the party should use the February 7, 2021 and February 21, 2020 list the National Organising Secretary, Col. Austin Akobundu ( rtd.) endorsed on April 26, 2020.
All Progressives Congress ( APC) candidate in the December 5, 2020 Cross River North Senatorial byelection, Joe Agi had questioned the eligibility of PDP candidates Stephen Odey and Agom Jarigbe in the election.
Counsels to the PDP, Emmanuel Enoidem and that of INEC, Mohammed Abdullahi closed their cases for hearing as the PDP insisted that Jarigbe was not the party’s candidate for the election, while Agi, Odey and Jarigbe closed their cases through written addresses.
During cross examination, Mba Ukweni, counsel to Jarigbe, told the PDP witness, Sani Yewuri that there was a split in the PDP five- man committee mandated to conduct the primary because two members insisted on using the original list approved by the court, while two others abstained.
He added that exhibits A11 and A12 were the reports of the primaries as exhibit A11 declared Odey winner of primary, while A12 declared Jarigbe winner, which polarised the result, because the Chairman and Secretary of the committee refused to use the authentic list confirmed by the courts.
The witness admitted that the party complied with the courts’ judgments as exhibits 16, 17 and 18 that ordered the party from sidelining the delegates list that emerged from February 7 and 21, 2020 ward and chapter congresses, adding: “I don’t know which of the delegates list that was used during the primary.”