The Forum of Kogi State PDP Chairmanship aspirants have rejected the purported endorsement of one Mr Enemona Anyebe as the consensus candidate for chairmanship position of the party.
Addressing a press conference in Lokoja on Monday, 13 chairmanship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused a former governorship aspirant, Barr Kabiru Usman, of unscrupulous attempts to hijack the state party in a bid to reposition himself for the 2027 gubernatorial elections.
One of the chairmanship aspirant, who spoke on behalf of the group, Hon. Ismaila Aruwa, said the purported endorsement of Anyebe as the party’s consensus candidate was a blatant falsehood that only exists in the imagination of the sponsors.
The Forum of chairmanship aspirants also rejected the Elders Review Committee report on zoning and consensus arrangement.
“We state that at the scantly attended meeting of Kogi East critical stakeholders held at Lokoja on Monday 29th April, 2024, the Elders Review Report on Zoning which was presented 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 Elders’ 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 the spirants to solicit for our views and or our input on the zoning issues.
“We the aspirants have not delegated our position to any Elder to canvas on our behalf nor are we ready to do so going forward,” he said.
The Forum said the purported consensus arrangement is dead on arrival as the candidate being propped up is “anti-party personified”.
“On the issue of the so called Mr. Enemona Anyebe who never showed interest in the contest for the state chairmanship, and did not participate in the screening and personal presentation processes before the zoning committee in Lokoja on 20th of January 2024, his purported candidature is dead on arrival for two reasons
“Like Prince Obaje argued vigorously at the Elders Review meeting, PDP is not father Christmas that you give out what was not asked for; it is a recipe for outright failure.
“Mr. Enemona Anyebe’s candidature is fatally and constitutionally prohibited since he is under a disciplinary sanction on 3 levels for persistent anti party activities. That is to say, he is suspended from the party with a fine. He is debarred from holding any party office and recommended to NEC of the party for expulsion. This is in accordance with sections 59(i) (d) and (g) of the PDP 2017 constitution as amended.
The chairmanship aspirants demanded that the leadership of the party should create a level playing ground for all the aspirants vying for the position.
