From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
Thirteen aspirants of the opposition
People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) have rejected the purported endorsement of one Mr Enemona Anyebe as the consensus candidate for Chairmanship position in Kogi State.
Our Correspondent reported that, a committee comprising of former governors, party leaders, had endorsed Mr Enemona Anyebe as the consensus for the PDP Chairmanship position in Kogi State.
Spokesperson, forum of Kogi State PDP Chairmanship aspirants, Aruwa Ismaila, while briefing Journalists in Lokoja on the development, said the purported endorsement of one Mr Anyebe as the party consensus candidate for the office of the State Chairman was a blatant falsehood, misleading and only existing in the imagination of their sponsors.
Ismaila, who spoke on behalf of 13 aspirants vying for the State Chairmanship position in Kogi State said, “It has therefore become imperative to issue this rebuttal so that the unsuspecting public and particularly our PDP supporters and members are not misled, misguided and be sold a dummy.
“We state that, at the scantly attended meeting of Kogi East critical stakeholders held at Lokoja on Monday 29” April 2024, the Elders Review Report on zoning which was presented on their behalf and for which none of the 6 Elders attended was outrightly rejected especially on the issue of the Elders going outside their mandate to source for and nominate one Mr. Anyebe from Olamaboro.
“We the chairmanship aspirants spoke through our spokesperson Mr. Ismaila Aruwa which is me at the meeting and advocated for outright rejection of the Review report which even fell far short of the initial Zoning committee report led by Hon. Tom Zakari. Our position has NOT changed.
“We hereby profoundly and vehemently reject the Elder Review Committee Report. It should be noted that at no time between 29th April to 1st May, 2024 was any meeting held to the knowledge and or in consultation with we the Aspirants to solicit for our views and or our input on the zoning issues.
“We the aspirant have not delegated our position to any Elder to Canvass for on our behalf nor are we ready to do so going forward.
A consensus candidate can only be arrived at by all 13 Aspirants discussing and agreeing with each other and not the Elders”.
According to the spokesperson, the leadership of PDP in Kogi State under Senator Danjuma La’ahas Chairman and Senator Philip Gyunka as Secretary has not put in place or activated any process among the 13 Aspirants for the purpose of arriving at a consensus Candidate.
“The purported endorsement of Mr Enemona Anyebe as the party consensus candidate is an affront on the Kogi State PDP leadership and a benign attempt to overreach their mandate and authority and such is hereby outrightly by rejected.
“It is to be noted that one of the sponsors of Mr. Enemona Anyebe, Chief John Odawn called a meeting at Egume and told PDP supporters that a vote for Dino is a wasted vote and that they should all rally around the Socal Democratic Party, (SDP) candidate. It is no surprise therefore that he finds it more convenient to sponsor one of his surrogates who is ‘Anti Party Personified’ to be PDP State chairman.
“By this, the party is already compromised ahead of 2027. We cannot continue on the same path of impunity and imposition that has led the party to disastrous electoral losses over the past 12 years dancing to the whims and caprices of our leaders and expect a different result.
“On the issue of the so called Mr. Enmona Anyebe who never showed interest in the contest for state chairmanship, and did not participate in the screening and personal presentation processes before the zoning committee in Lokoja on 20 January, 2024, his purported candidature is dead on arrival for two reasons;
” Firstly, like Prince Obajeh argued vigorously at the Elders Review meeting, PDP is not father Christmas that you 13 aspirants rejects endorsement of Anyebe as consensus Candidate for PDP Chairmanship position in Kogi.
“Aspirants should go to the field and subject themselves to the decision of the 738 delegates elected for that purpose in 13″ July, 2024. This is the only path for our electoral success such that whoever emerges becomes the candidate of all” he added. out what was not asked for; it is a recipe for outright failure.
