Chairman, PDP
Cross River State
by crossriverwatch admin
Cross River State Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Mr. John Okon, on Tuesday alleged that some members of the party stockpiled arms and produced fake party cards in the build up to primaries held in the state last month.
The party in the state, which held its primaries for councilors and chairmen on June 18 and June 24 respectively, had used the consensus method in selecting some its standard-bearers.
Okon, while reacting to the allegation of imposition of candidates by some aggrieved party members, noted that many of the complainants were those that produced fake party cards and bought guns and machetes to disrupt the exercise.
Many of the candidates, he said, emerged in accordance with the provision of zoning and consensus, adding that the arrangement did not favor the protesters.
He said, “It is about people. It is about leaders. The constitution allows for consensus and zoning. We took the candidates that came from the leaders of the local governments. People own the party. It is not a market place democracy.
“We are not operating a Greek democracy where everybody comes to the market square. We are talking about office election. We have leaders of the party from all the wards that make up elders and caucus.
“The people that are disappointed with the exercise are the ones who stocked fake party cards; they bought guns and machetes and were ready to kill people. They were disappointed because the opportunity to harm people did not crop up and that is why they are complaining.”
He also dismissed the allegation that the governor’s wife, Mrs. Obioma Imoke, single-handedly selected all the candidates for the vice-chairmanship positions.
Okon noted that the governor’s wife only made a case for the inclusion of more women in the councils.
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