The Rivers State Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to claims by some persons claiming to be members of the party that they were not given nomination forms after making payments.
In a protest at the party’s Secretariat at Aba Road in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, some aspirants for the house of assembly positions alleged the refusal of the party to issue them forms despite making payments.
One of the aspirants, Kinikanwo Ogbu, from Emuoha Local Government Area, said “We are all law-abiding members of the PDP in Rivers State. What we are holding is our bank drafts which we have paid into the party coffers to obtain our intent and nomination forms.
“But on getting here (party secretariat) this morning, we could not find any party officer to do the needful for us to get our forms. We are worried because the closing date for the purchase of forms is less than 24 hours and today, we cannot find any party official.”
However, the PDP in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Sydney Gbara said the protesters were not members of the party but those hired to disrupt the process.
According to him, the drafts the protesters were in possession of were not issued by the party, adding that all those who paid for forms into the party’s account have been issued nomination forms.
He, therefore, urged members of the party and residents to ignore the claims by the protesters.
Meanwhile, no less than eight aspirants have obtained the party’s nomination forms to contest next year’s governorship election in the state.
Some of these aspirants include a former speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Okpara; Senator George Sekibo, David Briggs, Senator Lee Maeba, Dr Abiye Sekibo; former state PDP chairman, Felix Obuah; Senator Olaka Wogu, Asimilaye Fubara and Farah Dagogo among others.
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