The crisis rocking the Peoples
Democratic Party deepened on Monday as two factions in the party claimed
that they had submitted names of their respective governorship
candidates for the Edo State governorship poll to the Independent
National Electoral Commission.
The factions are the one being led by
the party’s Chairman, National Caretaker Committee, Ahmed Makarfi, and
the other under the factional Chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff.
Both men and their followers are currently locked in a legal battle over the leadership of the opposition party.
The deadline for the submission of names
of governorship candidates by political parties for the Edo
governorship election, according to the timetable, released by the
commission is Tuesday (today).
The election holds on September 10.
The spokesperson for the Makarfi camp,
Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, told our correspondent on the telephone that the party
had done the needful.
He said he was sure that the commission
would recognise its candidate, Mr. Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who he said had
commenced mobilisation of the voters in the state.
Adeyeye added, “Well, we have met the
standard as we have sent the name of our candidate and his running mate
to the commission. We are not expecting the commission to deny them
recognition. We have nothing to fear. We are already in the field.”
In the same vein, the Sheriff faction said it had sent the name of its candidates for the election to the electoral body.
The Deputy National Chairman of the
group, Dr. Cairo Ojugboh, said his faction was relying on the court
ruling that ordered that only the Sheriff group should be allowed to
submit names of candidates for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
He said he was sure that the candidate
that emerged at the primary conducted by the Sheriff faction, Mr.
Matthew Iduoriyekwemwen, would make the INEC final list.
Ojugboh stated, “We have submitted the
name of our governorship candidate for the Edo election based on the
ruling of a Federal High Court in Abuja.
“The commission ordered INEC not to
accept the lists of our (PDP) governorship candidates for the election
in Edo and Ondo states from any other body except from the Sheriff-led
leadership of the party.
“It was Justice Okon Abang who said this
while delivering ruling in an interlocutory application filed by two
governorship aspirants on the platform of the PDP in Edo and Ondo
states.
“So, we have abided by the ruling of his
lordship and that’s all. Anyone who submits or attempts to submit any
other name apart from the name we have submitted is in contempt of the
court.”
However, feelers from the commission did not corroborate the claims of the two factions of the former ruling party.
The Deputy Director of the commission’s
Publicity and Voter Education, Mr. Nick Dazang, said as of 4.52pm, the
PDP was not among the six political parties that had submitted the names
of their governorship candidates.
He said, “As of 4.52pm, the PDP was not
among the political parties that had submitted their candidates. But the
deadline is still tomorrow, which is Tuesday (today). For now, six
political parties have submitted the names of their candidates.”
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