The alleged ceding of the chairmanship position of Warri North Local Government Area in the forthcoming 2021 council poll in Delta State is illegal, baseless and unconstitutional.
A former Member of the Delta State House of Assembly, representing Warri North, Hon. Misan Ukubeyinje, said this on Wednesday in Warri in an exclusive interview with 9janewswatch online.
Ukubeyinje told 9janewswatch: “Only a few minute persons without the requisite mandate and authority in Itsekiriland took that decision without involving critical stakeholders in the Council area.”
Beside this, he also said the Peoples Democratic Party has not conducted the primaries for the emergence of its flag bearers for the election.
Ukubeyinje, a two-time Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources and also Lands and Surveys, noted that despite the call by a former Governor of the state and Co-ordinator of the Co-ordinating Committee for the convention of critical stakeholders meeting to fine-tune arrangement for a PDP in-house selection of a consensus candidate for the PDP in the forthcoming council, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, no meeting was called but a few minute persons of Itsekiri extraction met and allegedly conceded the chairmanship seat to one Smart Asekutu of Ijaw extraction.
He said the appropriate thing to do was the conduct of the party primaries, calling on the State party executives and the Governor of the State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, to conduct same to avert crisis.
He said the authors of the chairmanship concession agenda are only bent on creating unwarranted crisis in the council and make it ungovernable for Okowa.
According to him, conceding the Chairmanship to Ijaws is not a panacea for peace, but a recipe for maximum chaos that the council is noted for during local government polls, adding: “Decision of such magnitude can only be taken by His Majesty, the Olu of Warri-in-Council after a critical stakeholders meeting with the relevant authorities.”
He said: “As a critical stakeholder and legal adviser to PDP in Warri North, no such meeting of critical stakeholders was called.
“Therefore for anybody or group to say one Ijaw candidate has been picked and a PDP nomination form also issued to him is not only illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional but smacks of imposition with impunity and a insult to our collective conscience as a people.
“This is a democracy.
“Everyone has a right to contest on a level playing ground.
“Our amiable Governor should conduct a primary for all interested aspirants and good luck to the winner of the primary.”
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