TWENTY-ONE aspirants who contested the governorship primaries on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, on Tuesday evening, to protest against the conduct of the exercise in the state.The aspirants are angry that they had been schemed out to facilitate the emergence of Mr Udom Emmanuel, allegedly favoured for the ticket by the state governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio.The aggrieved aspirants arrived at the Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja headquarters of the party along with some of their supporters on Tuesday evening, where they presented a petition addressed to the chairman, PDP governorship electoral panel, Prince Bola Oyebowale.The aspirants complained of multiplicity of the lists of delegates, arguing that ward congresses were not conducted prior to the governorship primaries held last weekend.The petition was also copied President Goodluck Jonathan, the national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu; national organising secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha; national legal adviser, Victor Kwon; Akwa Ibom State Director of Directorate of State Services; Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State; Resident Electoral Commissioner, Akwa Ibom State.In it, they averred that the first list denied by the state government, was the same list used for invitation of delegates to the congress.The petitioners added: 'No accreditation of delegates by your electoral panel to certify the individuals who were being trafficked in heavily guarded buses to the venue of the congress from the government House, Uyo.'The authenticity of the delegates' list being the condition precedent to a validly conducted governorship primaries, we shall therefore not consent to the legitimisation of the charade that this exercise is.'It is curious and unconscionable that in a clear violation of the guidelines of the party for elections and the Electoral Act, the contrived list of ad hoc delegates is populated by political appointees of government and civil servants.'This impunity and disregard for the electoral process and law cannot be ignored. We therefore call on you to resolve all of these anomalies.'The 21 aspirants, who signed the letter, included Nsime Ekere; Senator Helen Esuene; Amb. Assam Assam; Engr. Patrick Ekpotu; Chris Abasi Eyo; Ekpenyong Ntekim; Effiong Abia; Professor Richard King; Asuquo Asuquo Okpo; Aniete Johnny Ufot and Larry Esin.Others are David Okpon; Ita Udoh; Engrime Ekanem; Michael Sebastine Etuk; Rt. Hon. O. Etteh; and Benjamin Okoko.Meanwhile, a former member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Etim Bassey, has declared himself the elected PDP candidate for the Uyo Senatorial District in Akwa Ibom State.He told the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja on Wednesday, that he emerged winner of the ticket from the parallel congress conducted in the district last weekend.Obong Bassey, a former governorship aspirant, was declared the winner of the PDP ticket for the Uyo Senatorial district in the other primaries organised in the district.
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