Thirteen Peoples Democratic Party local government chairmanship aspirants have called for the cancellation of the party’s primaries in Cross River State.
The aggrieved aspirants, who made the call in a joint petition sent to the National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, described the exercise as a sham.
The aspirants from the three senatorial zones of the state said the final list of candidates the party released for the election fell short of the provisions of the party’s constitution and amounted to outright imposition and impunity.
The aspirants said, “What happened in the state was a meeting of a few people who wrote names and forwarded same to the Cross River Independent Electoral Commission as candidates of the party.
“We therefore respectfully urge you to admonish the leadership of the party in Cross River State to cancel the entire process, which was a sham, and conduct fresh primary elections for the emergence of candidates.”
The state chairman of the party, Edim Inok, had insisted that the party’s constitution allowed for selection of candidates by affirmation and that those complaining were not party members.
Meanwhile, only eight political parties out of the 18 recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission will participate in the March 28, 2020 local government election in Cross River State.
The Chairman of the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission, Dr Mike Ushie, disclosed this to our correspondent in Calabar on Monday.
“With the de-listing of some political parties, we have about eight parties participating in the election. There were 11 initially,” he said.
On the litigation instituted against CROSIEC by the All Progressives Congress over the failure of the commission to update the voter register, Ushie said, “We have a register that was used in the 2019 general elections.
“That is the register we are using. There is no update yet until further notice. The APC has no basis for going to court. They are acting in ignorance. They don’t know.”
