President Goodluck Jonathan’s kinsman, an Ijaw leader and former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark said yesterday that the alleged imposition of candidates who did not win the Peoples Democratic Party’s primary elections as party candidate will haunt the party at the polls.
He regretted that the imposition of candidates was at all levels in the party.
The ruling party’s machinery ensured President Goodluck Jonathan emerged PDP’s sole presidential candidate. Party chieftains had declared the seat was not vacant.
Consequently, PDP governors keyed in and bulldozed the way for their preferred candidates to emerge party gubernatorial candidates at all cost. Some of the governors ensured their candidates won their primary elections. Delta State was one of the few exceptions where the incumbent Governor allowed true democracy to hold sway. However, for state and national assemblies, the PDP leadership substituted names of many winners with those who lost in the primaries. The story was same in many parts of the country where party members who suffered such humiliation decamped to other parties.
Clark frowned at this yesterday and feared that the apathy it created within the party would haunt the party at the polls at all levels. But he was optimistic President Jonathan would still emerge winner.
He, however, said that things would change for the better for the party once Jonathan is re-elected in the March 28 Presidential election. Noting that matters for the PDP were not helped by aides and party chieftains who denied well meaning people access to the President, Clark said Jonathan’s re-election will end the era of “People dey work, monkey dey chop.”
Clark spoke as the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu yesterday ordered the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, campaign coordinators of the party to ensure that the President Jonathan and other party candidates are elected during the March 28 and April 11, presidential and National Assembly elections respectively.
Clark spoke at his Asokoro residence, when a group of PDP supporters from Gombe South/Central Senatorial District in Gombe State paid him a courtesy visit. He said that the imposition of candidates was not democratic against the backdrop that the people were appointed as candidates of the party and not elected, in line with democratic principles.
He wondered why the National Working Committee, NWC and the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party would allow such ugly scenarios considering the consequences.
The Ijaw leader stressed that imposition of candidates at all levels by the leadership would haunt the party at the polls.
Responding to complaints by his visitors over the alleged imposition of candidates by the state governor, he said, “I am very sad indeed that people in Gombe State; majority of our minority people are being held hostages. The area of imposition is not limited to Gombe.
The problem in PDP across the country as of today is caused by imposition of candidates. People being replaced by those who were not qualified for reasons best known to the party. So these are problems we are trying to solve
“A situation whereby a governor of a state would try to nominate everybody to become part of him is not democracy.
“When they do that they are merely protecting their own interests. If you nominate someone to represent you, they will go and nominate somebody else.
“The leadership of the PDP at various levels are doing that for their selfish interests. That is why they don’t allow you to elect your candidate for an election. It is the same people who will deny you access to Mr. President.”
Clark, however assured that such situation will stop in the party after the 2015 general elections.
He reiterated that all Nigerians were equal and that victims of post election violence in 2011 in Gombe State would be identified and adequately compensated.
According to him, the era when a group of people thought that Nigeria belonged to only them was over.
On the deployment of soldiers, the former federal commissioner for information said that troops would be deployed at polling centres to assist the police to ensure a hitch-free elections, pointing out that what the people wanted was a safe environment to exercise their rights, which could only be achieved with deployments of soldiers.
He said, “ our people want their safety when they go out to vote and the soldiers would be deployed to guarantee that.”
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Ibrahim Dikko had said that candidates were imposed and also lamented the neglect of Gombe South and Gombe Central Senatorial Districts in the scheme of things, warning that if victims of pre and post election violence in the state were not compensated and the lack of respect for political culture was not addressed, it would be difficult for the party to win 40 percent of the votes in the state.
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