An aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), for the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency of Bauchi State, Godfrey Manasseh Marti, has rejected result of the party primary conducted on Sunday, declaring that no such exercise was conducted in the area.
He made the rejection while addressing journalists on Monday in reaction to the results declared by Chairman of the Committee that conducted the primaries in the State, Ali Ibrahim.
Marti titled the briefing: “Unlawful Denial of Right to Participate in the PDP primary for Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency”.
He stated that, “I stand before you today as a loyal member of the Peoples Democratic Party and an aspirant for the House of Representatives seat for Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency. I have called this briefing to publicly address the unlawful denial of my right to participate in the PDP primaries held for our constituency.”
According to him,”I fulfilled all constitutional and party requirements to contest in the primaries. I purchased the nomination and expression of interest forms, submitted all required documents, and paid the prescribed fees within the stipulated timeframe. Despite this, my name was arbitrarily excluded from the final list of cleared aspirants.”
He claimed that,”No formal reason was communicated to me. No screening report indicated any reason for exclusion. This is a direct violation of the PDP Constitution, the PDP Electoral Guidelines, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which guarantees every qualified citizen the right to seek elective office.”
He stressed that,”Bogoro/Dass/ Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency has suffered enough from imposition and exclusion because of faith. The people deserve a free and fair process where the best candidate emerges through the will of party members, not through backroom decisions. This unlawful denial silences the voices of party Executives and supporters across our three LGAs and undermines the credibility of the PDP in Nigeria.”
He therefore demanded for the immediate reversal of the unlawful exclusion and his inclusion as a cleared aspirant for the primaries as clearly indicated in the formal report to which he was privileged to have a copy.
Marti also demanding for an independent investigation by the PDP National Working Committee into the screening and clearance process for Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency as well as a commitment from the party leadership to uphold due process and internal democracy in all future party activities.
He however promised that he remains a committed member of the PDP, stressing that, “This fight is not against the party, but for the party. If we abandon our own rules, we lose the moral authority to ask Nigerians to trust us with power.”
He also called on the PDP National Chairman, the NWC, the Bauchi State PDP leadership, and the Board of Trustees to intervene urgently because according to him,”Justice delayed in our constituency is justice denied to the people.”
End
Hon Geoffrey Manaseh Marti
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