By Pwanagba Agabus, Jos
Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam (PKK) Federal Constituency have petitioned the party leadership over the conduct of the House of Representatives primary election and what they described as the “disturbing developments” that emerged during collation and declaration of results.
The petition, titled: ‘Petition arising from the conduct of the APC House of Representatives Primary Election for Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency and demand for the Protection of Internal Party Democracy’, and read by Sadiq Abdullahi Kwaltomai, was signed by John Tongshinen Gozhak, APC aspirant for House of Representatives PKK.
The petitioners wrote: “We write as loyal and committed members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stakeholders from Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency, and believers in the ideals of justice, fairness and internal democracy upon which our great party was founded.”
They said the petition became necessary due to the disturbing developments that subsequently emerged regarding the collation and declaration of results.
“At the centre of the grievance, they stated, “prior to the election, the Plateau State Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress officially communicated to all aspirants the identities of the collation officers designated by the party.”
“As aspirants and stakeholders, we accepted this communication in good faith and relied upon it as an official directive emanating from the duly constituted leadership of the party in Plateau State.”
They noted that, “The election was conducted and the duly appointed collation officers discharged their responsibilities. Results from the various voting centres were collated by these officers and submitted in accordance with the mandate given to them by the party.”
But they expressed shock that, “reports emerged that certain officials or agents deployed from the National Secretariat rejected, displaced or otherwise disregarded the authority of the very officers whose names had earlier been officially communicated by the Plateau State Secretariat.”
“More disturbing was the emergence of other individuals who were not part of the list officially communicated to aspirants but who allegedly assumed responsibilities relating to the collation, certification or processing of election results after the duly appointed officers had already completed their assignment.”
“This development has generated widespread concern across Pankshin, Kanke and Kanam Local Government Areas because it raises serious questions regarding the integrity and credibility of the process,” they said.
