A chieftain of the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs has called on the National Working Committee of the APC to postpone the Rivers State governorship primary in order to correct the gross anomalies that have marred the process, saying that the current process has been skewed in favour of Arch. Tonye Cole, the preferred aspirant of the leader of the party in Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
Recall that Lulu-Briggs earlier expressed his support for Direct Primary but decided to go along with the decision of the National Working Committee of the APC which approved Indirect Primary for Rivers State.
According to Lulu-Briggs, events leading to governorship primary in Rivers State have witnessed several anomalies that have robbed it of the minimum acceptable standard that can guarantee its credibility.
Lulu-Briggs, in a statement issued on Sunday, stated that the Rivers State Executive Committee has openly supported and canvassed support for Arch. Tonye Cole, the preferred aspirant of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi.
He noted that State Delegates to the primary were not elected by party members in proper ward congresses but merely handpicked by the Rivers State Executive Committee.
According to the billionaire businessman, “In spite of the flawed process in which the so-called State Delegates were selected, the list of delegates and the guideline for the primary have not been made public.
” Our request to the State Executive Committee yesterday, Saturday, 29th of September, 2018, less than twenty-four hours to the primary date for the list of delegates and guidelines yielded no fruit rather we were referred to the National Executive Committee of our great party.
“That we have intercepted text messages sent by officials of the State Exco to these handpicked delegates to assemble at secret locations for accreditation and transportation to an undisclosed venue for the primary.
” It is clear from the foregoing that the minimum standards to guarantee a free and fair governorship primary are non-existent and I Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs have decided not to give credence to this obvious charade and hereby calls for its postponement,” he said.
