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…Stakeholders seek Dickson’s intervention
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Strong indication of a fresh looming crisis in the Plateau State chapter of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has emerged following the attempt to displace the party’s governorship candidate, Da Jonathan Sunday Akuns through a dubious repeat of primary election.
Jolted by the ugly development, party’s stakeholders have made a passionate appeal to the NDC national leader, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, to intervene in the looming crisis.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the organisation under the aegis of Middle Belt Young Political Stakeholders (MBYPS), Gaius Shekwolo and Abdulllahi Iliya, President and Secretary respectively, urged Dickson to look into the shenanigans of some political jobbers in the State.
They appealed to him to ensure that the planned substitution or rerun of the governorship primary scheduled for Tuesday September 15, did not hold.
The stakeholders further described the plans as unwarranted since Da Akuns remains the original sole candidate; arguing that the plan is simply a part of the broader effort to displace the sole candidate that emerged unopposed at the initial primary on May 29, 2026.
MBYPS, who insisted that the time for the sale of forms had already elapsed, argued that if the exercise throws up a different governorship candidate it would go a long way to confirm the fears in many quarters that the party has been compromised in Plateau State.
“We heard that an influential political leader in the state doled out large sums of money to some NDC leaders to set the ground work for possible disqualification of the party for the February 2027 governorship election in the state.
“With the experience of PDP that suffered a judicial loss of its election victory of the the 2023 national election during which the party won the National Assembly and State House of Assembly seats, it was expected that political leaders in Plateau State should avoid actions capable of repeating that costly mistake.
“Plateau State should not be a guinea pig for political merchandising that robs voters the power to elect their leaders. NDC should fish out those building the foundation for another judicial intervention in the electoral process due to breach of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guidelines,” the stakeholders stated.
Reacting further MBYPS claimed that the recourse to placeholder by NDC after its direct governorship primary had produced an unopposed winner does not reflect the party’s promise of upholding the rule of law and ensuring that the son of a nobody can become somebody without knowing somebody.
“You cannot rescue Nigeria or effectively fight corruption by encouraging electoral manipulation and politics of imposition. Why did NDC sell the expression of interest and nomination forms to aspirants in the first place? What is happening in Plateau State NDC has a deeper context than intra-party contestation for influence,” the stakeholders noted.
They lamented that at a time they are making efforts to unite the Middle Belt into a common region to solve its socio-political and economic challenges, some overzealous politicians were trying to sustain bad political example.
“With the experience of PDP that suffered a judicial loss of its election victory of the the 2023 national election during which the party won the National Assembly and State House of Assembly seats, it was expected that political leaders in Plateau State should avoid actions capable of repeating that costly mistake.
“Plateau State should not be a guinea pig for political merchandising that robs voters the power to elect their leaders. NDC should fish out those building the foundation for another judicial intervention in the electoral process due to breach of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guidelines,” the group stated.
