 |
|
APC primaries in Bayelsa
|
The Governorship
primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Bayelsa State was,
yesterday, characterized by confusion, controversy and alleged hijack of the
electoral process from the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole-led Electoral
Committee. Former
Governor of the state Chief Timipre Sylva won a parallel exercise organized by
the state executive of the APC without Oshiomhole and some members of his committee
with 726 of the 807 votes cast.
He
was returned as winner by Mr. Nelson Alakgba, a member of the primary
committee. Timi Alaibe, who was not present, scored four votes.
Vanguard report continues:
How first exercise was
aborted
The
original exercise ran into trouble early in the day over accreditation before
Oshiomhole arrived at about 12 noon
Oshiomhole
tried to calm frayed nerves by meeting with his committee members and later
with the aspirants to fashion the way forward but was held hostage by irate
party supporters, who invaded the Samson Siasia Stadium venue of the primaries
and insisted that the abandoned accreditation of delegates be completed and
election conducted.
Tight security
Though
there was tight security at the venue, some delegates were attacked by
suspected thugs as they made their way to the venue.
A
total of 1,508 delegates were expected to participate in the exercise and only
about 80 delegates from Brass and Ekeremor had been cleared and seated at their
council stands, when the matter degenerated.
How trouble started
Trouble
started following complaints and objections by three of the aspirants,Timi
Alaibe, Ebitimi Amgbare and Preye Aganaba, that the Oshiomole-led Committee had
lost control of the process, citing alleged hijack by the state executive of the
party loyal to Timipre Sylva.
According
to them, many of the delegates being cleared were in possession of cloned identification
papers against the committee’s requirements of an International Passport,
National Identification Card and Voters’ Card.
It
was gathered that before 8am, thugs invaded the entrance of Samson Siasia
Sports Complex, Yenagoa and attacked some party chieftains. The chaos was
blamed on the absence of Oshiomhole, the chairman of the Electoral Committee,
who arrived at about noon.
Oshiomhole
came in the middle of the confusion, two minutes after one of the top contenders,
Chief Timipre Sylva, arrived. Oshiomhole immediately intervened and held a
meeting with members of his committee. After meeting his committee members, he
also met with all the aspirants leading to speculations that the primary could
be cancelled.
Before
the arrival of Governor Oshiomhole, the trio of Timi Alaibe, Preye Aganaba and
Prince Ebitimi had called for the postponement of the exercise, citing alleged
irregularities and intimidation of delegates by hired thugs.
Exercise fraught with
irregularities – Alaibe
Alaibe
said: “The rancorous accreditation process leading to the primaries was fraught
with irregularities, violence, intimidation and complete disrespect for
aspirants, agents and party officials. This is an enactment of negative issues
for a party that stands on the mantra of change. I think something is missing
somewhere and we need to get it right.
“Some
of us, as aspirants had some delegates who are loyal to us threatened, beaten
and wounded since morning. We have a quite number of people who are not
delegates, the real delegates are outside. Some of the fake delegates have
identity cards that are cloned.
“I
believe we need to put a stop to this process. We are going to meet with the
chairman of the committee and we are going to ask for a cancellation of this
process to start at some other time so that they can get the security dynamics
right and the process and methodology of primaries right. “We are disappointed
that this can happen in an internal family arrangement. For some of us, this
process cannot continue and we cannot continue with this process because there
are a lot of irregularities and I am totally discontented.”
Amgbare concurs
Corroborating
Alaibe, another aspirant, Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, who also called for the
cancellation said: “As a matter of fact, I am the reason for this event holding
here today. I cancelled the elections that were held in 2007 when I contested
with Sylva and that is why we have this isolated elections in Bayelsa State.
And if we cancelled an election because it was not properly organized, I
believe that this primary should be better organized.
“The
process has been hijacked and the secretary of the committee has lost control
because the chairman is not here. We know the style and character of Adams
Oshiomhole and I am sure that if he was here early, he would have held
sway. And because he is not here, it is affecting the process, but as far as I
am concerned, we cannot go on with this process because it will lead us to
nowhere. I stand to say that as it is today, this process must stop.”
The process is unlike APC
– Aganaba
Another
aspirant, Preye Aganaba, said the process of the primaries is unlike what the
APC is known for, describing the process as a far cry from what obtained at the
Lagos convention that produced the party’s presidential candidate.
His
words: “I am ashamed today that the APC would be organizing a primary in this
way, because I was a member of the last presidential primaries in Lagos and we
had a successful convention and when the winner emerged the other aspirants
supported the candidate but the process today is flawed. It is a pity that most
of the delegates that have been accredited are all fake.
Cause for alarm
“I
want to join other aspirants to ask for a cancellation immediately because this
is unlike APC. I toiled, sweated and paid for this party to be established in
Bayelsa state, and if I am asking for this you should know how pained I am,”
Aganaba protested.
No cause for alarm – Sylva
But
former Governor Timipre Sylva said there was no cause for alarm. He said there
was no cause for the cancellation of exercise, adding that he was hailed by the
people because of his outstanding credentials.
His
words: “I am not an agent and if there are people with cloned cards, we will
make sure they are arrested. I was part of the arrangements put in place. Among
all the aspirants, l am the only one with the credentials; someone who has done
a term here.”
19 aspirants meet
Oshiomhole, accuse state chairman of bias
At
the meeting between Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the 19 governorship
aspirants, the aspirants accused the state executive committee led by the State
Chairman, Chief Tiwei Orunimigha of hijacking the process and encouraging the
rowdy invasion of the election venue by suspected thugs.
Amgbare,
who confirmed the issues raised, said the conduct of the State Executive was
biased and a deliberate show of support to a governorship aspirant.
Fireworks
scare: As the aspirants and members of the primary committee were holding a
meeting with Oshiomhole, sporadic fireworks rent the air outside the venue
close to the fence of the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, causing panic among
delegates and officials. It, however, took the prompt intervention of security
operatives to calm the situation.
Oyegun designed primary
to fail – Sylva
While
the governorship aspirants were asked to wait for the final decision of the
Oshiomhole Committee, Sylva was agitated and was heard complaining to the
National Vice Chairman (South-South), Hillia Ettah, that the process was
allegedly designed by the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun to fail.
Holding of primaries
“Tell
him (Oyegun), he has compromised. In short, I will tell him that he has
compromised. The process was designed to fail and to deny me of my gains in the
party,” he said.
Shortly
after, the gate to the venue was forced open by irate youth, who were insisting
that the primaries must be held.
Many
of the aspirants were seen leaving the venue out of security concern as the
police were struggling to maintain law and order.
Delay unnecessary – Igoli
The
only APC member in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Sunny Igoli, who spoke to
newsmen, said the delay in the election process was unnecessary as the Edo
State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole cannot deny that the use of party
registration card is not admissible for use in the poll.
Igoli
said, “even Oshiomhole did not use PVC during his own primaries. Why is our
story different? We built the party and know our members. The rules were
outlined for aspirants but the delegates have their rights too. And they have
demanded that the party registration card be used.”
Soldiers rescue
Oshiomhole
The
electoral committee chairman was however rescued and taken out of the venue by
armed military personnel at about 4.50pm.
Thereafter
a parallel governorship primary was held by the State Executives of the party
without Oshiomhole and some members of the Electoral Committee. Sylva won the
exercise in a landslide.
No comments:
Post a Comment