ATT: RE-RUN PDP
PRIMARIES AND BAYELSA WEST REPS SEAT
My
attention has been drawn to a report in the Daily Sun Newspapers of Friday 28
Jan, 2011, page 7, captioned “PDP Dares INEC” to the effect that the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) has rescheduled a re-run party primaries for the
position of a candidate for the Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency on
January 28, 2011 and rumors making the rounds that Hon. Seriake Dickson has
emerged the winner of the said rerun.
PDP is one
of the biggest party of blacks on earth and ought to announce re-run on
National Television.
But the
report was carried only on one National Daily (The Sun newspapers) that arrived
late to Yenagoa, talk less of the rural areas that are not privileged to see or
sight The Sun Newspaper until after one week with delegates not being able to
respond to re-run to purported primaries.
Having won
the party primaries that was conducted nation wide, my victory (Hon Ofoni
Williams) was announced by the party by almost all the National Television and
reports carried on all the major national dallies in the country including the
Sun newspaper.
However,
in Delta North Senatorial District re-run between Dr. Okoya and Dr.(Mrs.) Ali,
aired live on Channel T.V on 29th Jan, 2011.
For
purpose of record, it is pertinent to state that I won squarely at the party
primaries conducted in the spirit of the part’s Electoral guidelines for
primary Elections 2010 and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). 3.
No
complain or petition arising from the primaries was submitted to the Electoral
Appeal Panel in writing within 24 hours of the completion of the primary
election as required by guidelines 50(d), even if there was such a complain, it
is required that before deciding the matter, the electoral appeal panel shall
give an opportunity to the parties concerned to present their respective case
and shall communicate their decisions to the aspirants in writing within 24
house to the determination of the dispute or soon thereafter as the
circumstance may permit in the spirit of the guideline 50(e)4.
No time
was I ever invited by the panel referred to above to hear and react to any
complaints regarding my emergence as the party candidate. Neither have I
received any communication on the primary election which I won.
All Hon. Seriake
Dickson has done aside from approaching the court, he has also taken whatever
grievance he has to the press and petition riddled with falsehood presented
several days after the primaries.
We refer
to a report in Daily Sun newspaper, Thursday Jan 20 at a page captioned “PDP
Reps protest defeat at Bayelsa primaries”
The
primaries purportedly conducted on the 28th Day of Jan 2011 are legally flawed.
Aside the fact that, I was not informed of any resolution of the party to
conduct a rerun, Electoral officers never arrived Sagbama or anywhere within
the Federal constituency to conduct any primaries. Thus, the public action
which the subject of this response was apparently sponsored to steal a mandate
I was massively elected for.
Make no
mistakes the day of imposition of candidates who did not win primaries on their
parties have been swept away by the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).
It is
provided in Section 87(4)(c) 11 of the said law. It is the aspirant who wins
the primaries that shall be declared winner and the aspirants name shall be
forwarded to INEC.
At any
rate any primaries conducted outside the timetable prescribed by INEC suffers
from legal deficiencies in view of paragraph 1492) (f) of part 1 of the 3rd
schedule to the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 which
unambiguously empowers the Electoral Commission to provide rules and
regulations which shall govern political parties.
The
purported re-run primaries presents Bayelsa
State without leadership
at the state level. In the same manner the action Chairman of the party at the
state level was in Abuja to collect INEC forms for the winners of the primaries
conducted on the 6th Day of Jan 2010 and others, only to be told on the same
day of the purported primaries that rerun primaries had already been conducted
for Sagbam/Ekeremor Federal Constituency Seat for the House of Representative.
Hon.
Dickson Seriake had repeatedly said Mr. President adopted him even before the
primaries proper that head or tail he is the candidate for general election.
Secondly,
after Hon. Ofoni Williams won the primaries, Hon Dickson Seriake said there is
game plan that Mr. President is not favourable to Hon. Ofoni Williams because
he (Ofoni Wiliams) did not support impeachment that brought him (Mr. President)
as then Governor of Bayelsa State.
These statements
of Hon. Seriake Dickson and his co-travelers remain shocking, open secret for
dragging Mr. president’s name into trivial matters and presenting same in a bad
light upon the above. The justification for the purported re-run packaged in
secrecy remain a mystery. Private investigation has revealed that any attempt
to seek redress of attempt to hold on to my mandate freely given to me on the
6th of Jan. 2010 will be vehemently resisted. Blackmail, police harassment,
induce court actions will not deter me and my supporters.
My victory
at the primaries was landslide and I consider it a loud statement of the PDP
family in Sagbama/Ekeremor to represent them in the forthcoming elections is a
solemn trust which I cannot betray or surrender and in consideration of the
fact that sovereignty belongs to the people I have resolved to adopt every
legal means available to recover my mandate. Happily there is growing evidence
of courts returning to the days of being the last hope of the common man.
Yours
Hon. Ofoni
Williams
Cc:
President
(FRN). Deputy Governor Bayelsa State
Vice President
(FRN). Inspector-general
of Police
Senate
President Director-General
State service
Speaker
House of Reps Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police
Governor Bayelsa State Director State Service Bayelsa Stat
Acting
Chairman of PDP Bayelsa State
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