A governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in Benue State and a former Managing Director of Lower Basin Commission, Engr. Roseline Ada Chenge, has called for the cancellation of the recently held Peoples Democratic Party governorship primaries in the state.
Chenge, who first contested as an aspirant on the platform of the PDP in the 2007 governorship primary of the state, said the emergence of Hon. Terhemen Tarzo as PDP’s flag-bearer for the 2015 general elections would spell doom for the party in Benue State.
She explained that the party’s governorship primaries were marred with irregularities in form of thuggery and non-compliance with the party’s electoral guidelines for the said election.
She said: “From the beginning of the governorship primaries in Benue state to the end, everything was fraught with fraud and manipulations.
“When the national secretariat of the PDP flagged off the sale of delegates’ forms, Benue state did not sell the forms. Every aspirant waited form Monday till Friday, the stipulated period for the sales of the forms but Benue state did not sell the forms. So, the electoral process was truncated.”
Chenge further disclosed that the primaries took place on December 9 as against the December 8 scheduled date for the party’s governorship primaries nationwide.
“The primaries were to take place on December 8 but they were conducted on December 9. The election was deliberately delayed,” the aspirant said.
She alleged that the “delegates” were taken to a particular location for accreditation other than the venue of the voting.
“The voting hall was filled with false delegates, and by 2:30 am of December 9, the purported election took place.”
Chenge called on President Goodluck Jonathan and the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, as well as the entire PDP family to take note that there was no PDP governorship primaries in Benue State.
She advised that the issue must be resolved before the general elections in come next year.
Chenge equally said having run on the party’s platform in the 2007 governorship primaries, she was familiar with the electoral process.
She said: “And when that election of 2007 was free and fair, I was the first to congratulate the winner. So, this process was completely fraudulent and unacceptable.
Guns boomed through out the election; genuine delegates were harassed and chased away, while fake delegates were brought in. Thuggery was the order of the day during the primaries.”