Prominent chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have condemned the national leadership of the party for failing to conduct hitch-free congresses across the states.
Apparently miffed by ‘the deliberate manipulation of the process by vested interests’ at the national secretariat, some party chiefs have withdrawn from the exercise.
One of the aggrieved chieftains, Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri, faulted the congress in Yobe State chapter where he said electoral materials and poll officials arrived late Saturday when voting ought to have been concluded.
Waziri said: “I have withdrawn from the congress in my home state of Yobe. It was a false start because the congress did not take place in many centres.
“Electoral materials arrived Damaturu, the state capital late in the evening on Saturday so there was limited time for the exercise to take place. So I have to raise my voice early enough.
“The conduct of the exercise was inconsistent with democratic norms and the behaviour of the leadership of the party is that of intolerant, which is disdainful to the founding fathers”.
Alhaji Waziri, who is a member of the party’s Board of Trustees, lamented that despite the glaring manipulation, which produced the leadership of the party, he and others decided to stay back to put the party back on track.
He faulted moves by the party leadership, particularly the way and manner critical organs have been meetings, to take far reaching decisions on behalf of the party.
“The PDP is torn around its various seams and this is not a positive development for cohesion and loyalty. The last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting was improperly conducted with only a few members in attendance.
“For instance, the last NEC meeting was held without any input from the BoT and the caucuses. The party is trying to build on faulty foundation, which will collapse.
“A party desirous of providing credible opposition and alternative platform for voters should not conduct its affairs the way the leadership of the party is going about it.’’