ControversiES have trailed the final list of senatorial aspirants published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ahead of next month’s elections.
In line with at least 30 days stipulated by the Electoral Act, INEC last Tuesday made public its final list of candidates vying for elective positions.
But the list, however, did not go down well, especially with the former Special Adviser on Politics to President Goodluck Jonathan, Ali Gulak, who lamented that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) used his candidature to appease Adamawa Governor Bala Ngillari.
As Gulak protested the absence of his name on the list, former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu distanced himself from his purported candidature as the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) flagbearer for Abia North as published by INEC.
Although Ngillari did not participate in the PDP primaries for Adamawa North Senatorial District, his name appeared on the INEC’s list, presumably to compensate him for not contesting the governorship ticket with the party’s anointed candidate, Nuhu Ribadu.
Gulak described the absence of his name from INEC’s list as a rumour, just as he vowed to challenge the misnomer in court.
He wondered why the governor, who never participated in the senatorial primaries, was the one whose name appeared on the list, cautioning the National Working Committee (NWC) against sacrificing his candidature for appeasement of the sitting governor.
Addressing reporters in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, Gulak explained that he secured more than 84 votes in the primaries to emerge winner, adding that his name was submitted to INEC.
“I will fight for my right to the highest level because I won the election. I defeated other aspirants hands down.
“How can anybody attempt to substitute my name with that of a person who never showed any interest in the Adamawa Northern Senatorial primaries? I appeal to my supporters to regard the rumour as baseless null and void,” he said.
Gulak appealed to the president to stop those trying to turn the PDP into a party of impunity, adding: “I am a lawyer and I will not allow this (impunity) to stand the test of time. I will fight it to a logical conclusion to ensure that justice is done.”
Kalu, in a statement, affirmed his membership of the PDP, stating that the form was filled by one of his aides in his absence and without his consent.
“Nigerians would recall that sometime in December 2014, I had a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mua’zu at the Presidential Villa. At the parley, the President appealed to me not to leave the party again, despite the injustices meted to me by the Abia State chapter of the party.
“No primaries held in Abia, delegates were just handpicked, thereby excluding anybody who was not in the camp of the governor, Chief T.A. Orji, from any political aspiration. After the meeting with the President, I told the media that I was satisfied with the outcome.
“From December 18, I travelled to London and did not return till January 8. It was while I was away that one of my aides, without authorisation, filed my papers with PPA.
“We may say he did that in his earnestness to see me serve the people in my senatorial district, but it is something we would still sort out in-house, since he should first have obtained my consent.
“I hereby reiterate the promise I made to President Jonathan that I would remain in PDP, and work for his re-election. I will not go back on my words. Therefore, I won’t be part of the race into the Senate on the platform of the PPA.
“I am not afraid of running, and either win or lose, but I am fully in PDP, and will remain there. I will not disobey the President, who had asked me to stay in the party. That is where I stand,” Kalu said.
