The Managing Director of Capital
Oil, Ifeanyi Ubah, has said that Oseloka Obaze, who was declared the winner of
the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) primary for the forthcoming Anambra
governorship was not qualified to contest for the party’s ticket.
However, Obaze denied the claims
saying he “certainly” met the requirement to contest in the primary.
Ubah and Obaze had this argument
when both of them appeared on Channels Television’s programme ‘Sunday Politics’
anchored by Seun Okinbaloye.
Obaze had polled 672 votes, his
closest rival Dr Alex Obiogbolu got 190 votes, while Ubah polled 94 votes,
according to the results announced by the Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr Dave
Umahi, who supervised the poll.
But Ubah claimed Obaze, who
served as SSG under former Governor Peter Obi and incumbent governor Willie
Obiano, should not have been allowed to contest in the first case.
Beyond that, he alleged that the
delegates list used for the primary was different from the certified true copy
he got from the party.
Asked why he was unhappy with the
outcome of the primary, he said, “The primary (reason) is that Mr Oseloka Obaze
did not even qualify ab initio to be part of the contest. He didn’t have the
requisite waiver from the party.”
Ubah, who said the National
Executive Council is the only organ of the party that can give a waiver,
explained that the PDP’s NEC couldn’t have given Obaze a waiver.
The Capital Oil boss said, “He
(Obaze) granted an interview to the press in February this year that he doesn’t
even know the party he is going to use to contest the election. That is almost
six months ago. And the party’s constitution stipulates that it must be two
years. He didn’t have it (the waiver).
“We had screening on the 9th and
10th of August. There was a NEC meeting on the 11th and that is the last NEC
meeting till date. So, NEC did not give any waiver. There was no mentioning of
waiver. So, how did he come in to be part of the primary? These are the
technicalities, the deficiencies and the politics that the party continues to
impose somebody.”
On his part, Obaze denied the
claims, saying he “certainly” met the requirement to contest in the primary.
On claims that he got a
provisional waiver, Obaze said, “No, I got a provisional clearance and,
subsequently, I got a waiver from the National Caretaker Committee.”
He added, “You have the National
Working Committee and you have the NEC that is the whole body. When they are
not in full session, the Working Committee takes care of business. But the
waiver was duly given.”
He also rejected claims that he
was imposed on the party, saying it is a matter of perception.
“The process was clear, due
process. The primary was conducted transparently on national television.
“So, I don’t understand where this
is coming from. I don’t want to ascribe labels to people who are sore losers
but that seems to be the case.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com