PDP aspirant demands transparency in primary re-run

 

LAGOS, Nigeria – A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Lagos State House of Assembly aspirant, Adewunmi Adebayo, has demanded a level playing field following last Sunday’s primary election which ended in a stalemate.

Adebayo, an aspirant in the Somolu Constituency, secured eight votes in the primary – the same as his closest challenger – while two votes were voided.

After the primary, he assured his supporters of his faith in the PDP and satisfaction with the outcome of the process, adding that he expected the party to announce a date for a rerun.

He also urged the party executives to follow democratic tenets as contained in the PDP constitution and emphasised the belief that his supporters’ mandate for a better Somolu would not be stolen.

However, four days later, the party had yet to announce a rerun date and, Adebayo, in a statement, urged democrats to speak up and demand a response from the party hierarchy.

He said: “As expected, a communique by the party leadership should have followed that would state when a rerun will be conducted but it has become rather unsettling that there has been graveyard silence.

“In light of this, it becomes pertinent that advocates of democratic principles speak at this crucial point and demand immediate reactions from the party hierarchy.”

The aspirant added that there were “feelers and whispers” of a “sinister plan to truncate democracy and install a candidate that is not the choice of delegates and the members of the PDP.”

He warned that the plan would be “strongly resisted as it profanes the constitutional provisions of the party.”

Describing himself as “a defender of the Law” Adebayo pledged not to be part of any “mago-mago” and urged party men and women to resist “any attempt and plan to impose a candidate who does not possess the requisite capability and pedigree needed in appealing to the people of Somolu.”