A cross-section of delegates to Saturday’s PDP ward congress at Kuduru Ward, Bwari Area Council of the FCT, has bemoaned the way the party leadership handled the party election.
Some of the delegates, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja on Saturday, stressed that they were not duly briefed about preparations for the congress.
One of the delegates, Mr Musa Giwa, said that party delegates had converged on the Bwari township stadium as early as 10 a.m., adding that they waited for close to five hours without being attended to.
He said that party officials who ought to monitor the congress had yet to arrive.
Another delegate, Mr Bitrus John, said that the congress might not produce expected results because of the lateness of its commencement.
However, Mr Mohammed Paspa, the PDP Publicity Secretary in the FCT, commended the delegates for their high turnout and for their patience.
He gave the assurance that the party leadership, in concert with the police, had put in place adequate security arrangements to ensure a peaceful conduct of the party’s ward congresses across the FCT.
In Sokoto State, the PDP ward congresses were peaceful and conducted via consensus arrangements.
A total of 4, 148 ward executives were elected in 244 electoral wards across the state’s 23 local government areas.
Although consensus candidates were adopted for the elections, the delegates, nonetheless, voted symbolically, in line with the provisions of the PDP Constitution.
Addressing the coordinators of ward congresses, Alhaji Salihu Belel, the Chairman of the five-member electoral committee deployed to Sokoto State by the national PDP headquarters, noted that the PDP in the state was very united.
“The state chapter of the party had concluded our work by over 80 per cent, due to the excellent arrangements it made,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Alhaji Tukur Waziri, the state PDP Chairman, and Alhaji Aminu Bello, the state PDP Secretary, noted that the party members were loyal and law-abiding.
“We don’t have any problems in Sokoto State; we have set all the needed machineries in motion to ensure a successful conduct of ward congresses across the state,” Waziri said.
Gov. Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State, after monitoring the exercise in Wamakko Local Government Area, commended the party members for being law-abiding and for their orderliness during the polls
The conduct of the PDP ward congresses in Delta was generally orderly, peaceful and impressive, as voting commenced in most polling centres as early as 9 a.m.
At polling centres in Oshimili South, Oshimili North, Aniocha South, Aniocha North, Ndokwa West and Ndokwa East Local Government Areas, voting was concluded around noon, while the names of elected officials were announced on the spot.
Although, the commencement of voting was a bit delayed in Sapele, Okpe, Isoko, Ughelli and Warri council areas due to the late arrival of the party’s electoral officials; the ward congresses, which were generally orderly, were rounded off between 1.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m.
The situation was the same in the Ijaw neighbourhoods of Bomadi, Burutu and Patani.
The ward congresses were held in primary schools and open fields across the state but in some areas considered as flashpoints, the polls were held in private locations for security reasons.
Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta voted in the PDP congress at Abigborodo Ward 6, Warri North Local Government Area.
Speaking at the end of the exercise, Uduaghan said that the PDP had resolved to strengthen its internal democracy by appropriately electing its leaders, right from the ward level.
“We are starting the new order from the ward level, unlike in the past when our leaders were chosen through consensus arrangements,” he said.
Similarly, Chief Paulinus Akpeki, Delta’s Commissioner for Housing, said: “The PDP ward congresses in Sapele are all peaceful and orderly; we have no problems at all.”
Meanwhile, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, the PDP Chairman in Delta, has advised party faithful to refrain from making politics a do-or-die affair.
He said that although differences in interests might arise, that was not a justification to promote violence.
He warned that the party would deal with party executives in any local government area where there were reported cases of irregularities.
In Bayelsa, Chief James Durgo, the state PDP Chairman, noted that party ward congresses in the state were peaceful and orderly, while the delegates’ turnout was quite impressive.
Durgo told newsmen that the PDP was one big family and that all the party’s stakeholders worked for the success of party elections.
President Goodluck Jonathan even participated in the exercise, as he travelled down to Otuoke, in company of his wife, Patience, on Friday to exercise his franchise.
Jonathan travelled back to Abuja on Saturday after participating in the exercise, which the party faithful described as very peaceful and successful.
In his remarks, Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa urged all the party leaders and members, as well as stakeholders to conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner.
Dickson urged the party’s leaders and other stakeholders to concertedly work for the success of the ward congresses, so as to promote the party’s cohesion and stability.
Mr Ene Ketebu, the state PDP Publicity Secretary, said in a telephone interview that the party’s ward congresses across the state were very peaceful.
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