Thirteen aspirants of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have rejected the purported endorsement of one Mr Enemona Anyebe as the consensus candidate for chairmanship position in Kogi State.
DAILY POST had earlier reported that a committee composed of former governors, party leaders endorsed Mr Enemona Anyebe as the consensus candidate for the PDP chairmanship position in the state.
But addressing a national press conference in Lokoja on Tuesday, spokesperson, forum of Kogi State PDP Chairmanship aspirants, Aruwa Ismaila said the purported endorsement of Anyebe as the party’s consensus candidate was a blatant false, misleading and only exists in the imagination of the sponsors.
Ismaila, who spoke on behalf of 13 aspirants vying for the State Chairmanship position said, “It has therefore become imperative to issue this rebuttal so that the unsuspecting public and particularly our PDP supporters and members are not misled, misguided and be sold a dummy.
“We state that at the scantly attended meeting of Kogi East critical stakeholders held at Lokoja on Monday 29th April, 2024, the Elders Review Report on Zoning which was presented was outrightly rejected, especially on the issue of the Elders going outside their mandate to source for and nominate one Mr. Anyebe from Olamaboro.
“We the chairmanship aspirants spoke through our spokesperson, Mr. Ismaila Aruwa, which is me, at the meeting and advocated for outright rejection of the Review report which even fell far short of the initial zoning committee report led by Hon. Tom Zakari. Our position has not changed.
“We hereby profoundly and vehemently reject the Elders’ Review Committee Report. It should be noted that at no time between 29th April to 1st May, 2024, was any meeting held to the knowledge and or in consultation with the spirants to solicit for our views and or our input on the zoning issues.
“We the aspirants have not delegated our position to any Elder to canvas on our behalf nor are we ready to do so going forward.”
He added that “The purported endorsement of Mr Enemona Anyebe as the party’s consensus Candidate is an affront on the Kogi State PDP leadership and a benign attempt to overreach their mandate and authority and such is hereby outrightly rejected.
“It is to be noted that one of the sponsors of Mr. Enemona Anyebe, Chief John Odawn called a meeting at Egume and told PDP supporters that a vote for Dino is a wasted vote and that they should all rally around the Social Democratic Party, (SDP) candidate.
“It is no surprise therefore that he finds it more convenient to sponsor one of his surrogates who is ‘Anti Party Personified’ to be PDP State chairman.
“By this, the party is already compromised ahead of 2027. We cannot continue on the same path of impunity and imposition that has led the party to disastrous electoral losses over the past 12 years.
“On the issue of the so-called Mr. Enmona Anyebe who never showed interest in the contest for state chairmanship, and did not participate in the screening and personal presentation processes before the zoning committee in Lokja on 20 January, 2024, his purported candidature is dead on arrival.”
The aggrieved aspirants demanded that the leadership of the party should create a level playing ground for all the aspirants vying for the position.