The Kogi State Congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), held on Saturday August 31, in Lokoja, has been described as ‘illegal, fraudulent, null and void’.
A chairmanship aspirant, Capt. Joe Agada (Rtd), who made the declaration at a press briefing in Lokoja, told newsmen that the purported state congress was illegal, lacked credibility and characterised by non-adherence to party guidelines.
Agada maintained that his group had concrete proof to show that the congress that allegedly produced Mr Enemona Ayebe as state PDP chairman was marred with anomalies.
Agada stressed that the basic bloc of the State Congress which is the Three-Man Ad-hoc Ward Delegate Congress where they were supposed to elect 717 delegates in Kogi, purportedly conducted by the Boyelayefa Dabekeme-led committee, was marred by grave anomalies and impersonation of returning officers from FCT, Nasarawa, Imo and Kano states.
He insisted that the development compromised the integrity of the ward congress and therefore rendered the entire process null and void.
According to him, the guidelines for the conduct of PDP Ward, LGA, State and Zonal Congresses for the purpose of selecting party executive committees at all levels were jettisoned.
The Kogi PDP chairmanship aspirant stressed that the accreditation at the state congress was highly manipulated and populated with non-statutory delegates across the 21 LGAs of Kogi State.
“As a leading aspirant of Kogi PDP chairmanship before the party decided to shoot itself in the leg, I am addressing this press conference to clarify certain issues.
“We want to let the public know that we did not withdraw from the PDP chairmanship and the state congress race, held on Saturday August 31, 2024, but we decided not to participate due to illegality of the process.
“I, and my group, decided not to participate in the illegal PDP state congress in Lokoja on August 31, because we cannot build on illegality. Our participation would mean confirming legality on illegal process.
“For instance, Olamaboro LGA has 103 delegates in total, in which only 48 could attend the purported congress because 55 delegates who are in my group boycotted the congress.
“Yet, 83 delegates were purportedly accredited by the state congress committee. Hence, 48 impersonators were fictitiously added to the accreditation.
“This scenario in Olamaboro also occurred throughout the entire 21 local government areas of the state during the purported state congress on August 31.
“We have written to the PDP State Congress Appeal Panel, notifying them that 55 authentic delegates from Olamaboro LGA did not participate in the purported state congress,” Agada said.
