PDP: President Yet to Accept to Contest 2015 Elections

PDP: President Yet to Accept to Contest 2015 Elections

• No automatic tickets for first-term governors, legislators
•Kwankwaso: Party is undemocratic
Chuks Okocha and Ibrahim Shuaibu
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has stated that despite its unanimous endorsement of President Gooodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential poll on the ticket of the party, the president is yet to formally declare his intention to contest the election.
Making this known yesterday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, clarified that the fate of Vice-President Namadi Sambo as Jonathan’s running mate rested on the president, who is yet to officially inform the party that he would accept the offer.
Also, the party has ruled out automatic tickets for first-term governors elected on the platform of the party, stating that it is only the National Executive Committee (NEC) and its National Caucus that have the powers to grant sole candidacy as was the case with Jonathan.
In addition, the party has released the guidelines for the various primary elections, preparatory to the general election, stating that all primary elections will be conducted through the open ballot system where delegates are expected to queue behind the candidates of their choice.
PDP also announced publicity tours to make known all the projects and programmes of the party in states that it controls as well as the federal government. The tours are expected to commence today.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, Metuh said the issue of the vice-presidential ticket would depend on when the president accepts his nomination, adding that before then, “the issue of the vice-president will have to wait”.
“Why don’t we wait for the president to declare first before such issues are highlighted? If the president accepts his nomination to run, then we will be able to move into the next level,” he said while urging Nigerians to discard rumours that Jonathan would not run with Sambo.
Metuh also described Sambo as one of the most loyal and dedicated members of the party.
On whether the sole candidacy offered Jonathan would be extended to governors and members of the National Assembly, he explained: “The endorsement by the NEC and other organs was for President Jonathan, it does not extend to other aspirants, as there would be congresses. This is why the party is releasing guidelines for the various primary elections.”
He said: “As much as the party through the NEC, Board of Trustees (BoT) and other organs of the party has adopted and endorsed the president as its sole presidential candidate, he is yet to officially accept his nomination.”
This notwithstanding, he said no member of the party would be allowed to pick the presidential nomination form, adding: “That was the essence of the NEC decision. All members of the party are therefore directed to abide by the decision of NEC, which is the highest decision-making body of the party, apart from the national convention.”
Metuh further clarified that the endorsement of the president was not extended to the governors of the party, who would be eligible for second terms in office.
He said the decision of the NEC and other organs of the party was clear on the endorsement of the sole candidacy of the president.
The party also announced the commencement of a national publicity rally aimed at publicising the achievements of the PDP-led federal government since 1999.
Metuh said the basic aim of embarking on the publicity tour was to counter the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other opposition states that have converted the achievements of PDP to theirs.
According to Metuh, “Indeed, there is no state, local government or ward in Nigeria that has not been positively affected by projects executed by PDP governments at federal, state and local government levels. Such projects abound in non-PDP states and many Nigerians erroneously give credit to the opposition, which they eagerly accept.
“Also, in states formerly controlled by the PDP, such as Edo, Rivers, Nasarawa, Kano, Sokoto, Kwara, among others, the opposition party, now in control, is laying claims to our projects.
“These tours will recover our projects and will entail a comprehensive sector-by-sector appraisal of our performance in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria and the successes recorded in transforming the lives of citizens in the last 15 years of our democracy.
“Our projects claimed by the opposition, we will ensure that credit is given to the PDP. This is in addition to constituency projects by federal and state lawmakers which were mobilised by the PDP-led federal government as well as the rapid growth in the private sector owing to our well-articulated reform policies and programmes in key sectors including banking, power, communications, aviation, transport, commerce and industry, retailing, agriculture, housing and others, making our nation one of the fastest growing economies in the world,”Metuh said.
On the guidelines for the party’s primaries, Jonathan will be expected to pay N20 million as the cost of the form and N2 million for expression of interest, while governorship aspirants of the party will pay N10 million and N1 million for the expression of interest forms.
Aspirants for the Senate are to pay N4 million, while those desirous of contesting for the House of Representatives will pay N2 million. All aspirants for the National Assembly will pay N500,000 for expression of interest forms.
Those aspiring to contest for state Houses of Assembly are expected to pay N1 million for their nomination forms and N200, 000 each for the expression of interest forms.
However, no fee was imposed on all female aspirants at all levels.
The age limit for the Senate was pegged at 35 years and 30 years for the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has taken a swipe at the ruling PDP over its wholesale endorsement of Jonathan, describing his former party on whose platform he was twice elected governor as “undemocratic”.
Speaking in Kano yesterday, Kwankwaso said: “Since the five governors decamped from PDP to APC, I told Nigerians that PDP will become a weaker party whose democratic values will erode. Now the stakeholders of the party have come out to say that they have chosen the president Jonathan as their party’s sole presidential candidate without going for a primary election.”
Kwankwaso spoke, while receiving reports from committees sent out to the 36 states of the federation for consultations on his presidential bid.
He said the PDP leaders, without consultations with appropriate party supporters, took the decision, adding that this development would not allow the party delegates to choose the best candidate for the party, which portends victory for the prospective APC candidate.
“I am assuring you that APC leaders are committed to do justice in all of the forthcoming party primaries, be it at the state and national assemblies, governorship and even that of the presidential election,” he maintained, pointing out that “APC will give everybody, especially delegates the right to choose the best candidates”.
The governor recalled that when he and some of his colleagues were in the PDP, there was no time when a candidate was forced on them without holding primary elections, adding that even those who were offended in the party by former President Olusegun Obasanjo were consulted for reconciliation as part of democratic process of building the party.
He pointed out that the present leaders of the PDP had shown that they are not democrats and the party would definitely lose the 2015 general election because of their sheer incompetence and undemocratic attitude to governance.
Kwankwaso said there was never a time that money politics was played so glaringly in Nigeria’s democracy than now, accusing the Jonathan administration of using US dollars to influence party leaders.
He however maintained that money would not give victory to the PDP.
According to him, money politicians would never be mindful of people’s sufferings, adding that he as governor would continue to expose such people so that the electorate would identify and avoid them during elections.
On the committees' reports, Kwankwaso said he would study them and would take a decision soon on whether to contest for the presidential ticket of the APC or not.