May 04, (THEWILL) – The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State, says it feels the urgency to dispel the rumour being circulated on social media, that the ward congresses of the party in the State had come and gone and the results already declared.
It noted that it is pressing, too, to inform members of the party and the public alike, to be wary of the activities of some fifth columnists who peddle fake and incendiary stories aimed at stoking the flames of discord, acrimony and rancour.
In a Press release signed by the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Mazi Emenike Nmeregini, which said his party wishes to restate that, in strict adherence to the party’s Constitution and Guidelines for Primaries, the PDP in Imo State, on Saturday, April 30th, 2022, prepared, mobilised our members and kicked off congresses at the 305 electoral Wards of the State to elect the three-man ad hoc delegates.
“The exercise had gone on almost seamlessly in much of the State. The options of consensus, harmonisation and actual voting were deployed in the various areas, as the stakeholders and leaders deemed acceptable and convenient.”
The party revealed that what brought about a setback was when the five-man Electoral Panel for the congresses sent by the PDP National Secretariat to conduct the exercise, could not produce and display the result sheets, saying upon intense persuasion, they eventually displayed only twenty-five sheets.
The release stated that when the Two were missing and they were those of Ideato North and South, adding that the exercise had almost been concluded in most of the Wards awaiting collation of results.
“The bizarre disappearance of the result sheets, coupled with the incoherent, jejune and puerile explanations by the Panel, consequently raised a very serious question about the integrity of the team from the National Secretariat.”
Nmeregini says, the Stakeholders feared that the process might have been compromised, and that necessitated the collective resolution to allow the Department of State Services (DSS) in Owerri to take custody of the results, since the exercise could not proceed as planned with incomplete result sheets.
“It is further pertinent to highlight that the next day, Sunday, the Panel Members made attempts at the DSS office to abscond with the result sheets. They had no plans to conclude the exercise anymore in Imo State. They blatantly refused to even come to the State Secretariat of the Party in Owerri. Rather, they made moves to jet out to Abuja with the result sheets, but their plot was resisted by officers and members of Imo State PDP, who then solicited the intervention of the DSS, which graciously accepted to continue to keep the result sheets in its custody. These result sheets are still with the DSS till this moment, and nothing has changed”, it stated.
The party therefore calls on its members and supporters to remain calm and steadfast, confident that the issues will soon be resolved. It further urged Party leaders to tame the overzealousness of their aides and refrain from false statements that are capable of undermining the peace in the party.
