HOUSE of Representatives hopeful and spokesperson of the Coalition for United Political Parties, CUPP, Barr. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, has tasked the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Imo State,to save the party from extinction.
Ugochinyere, who is contesting to represent the people of Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State, also asked the party leadership to obey the order of the FCT High Court as well as the directives of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, restraining the use of ad-hoc delegate list to conduct the forthcoming party primaries.
Açcording to Ugochinyere, whose reaction was contained in a statement, Friday,”doing otherwise may ultimately lead to the party being excluded from the ballot in the state.”
Ugochinyere’s action came on the heels of controversies trailing the party’s delegate congress conducted earlier.
Recall that the FCT High Court had on May 6,2022, restrained both the PDP and INEC from recognizing the outcome of the 3-man ad-hoc delegate election of the party held on April 30,2022, or any other date.
But the PDP failed to vacate the order in its application on the May 17, leaving the party with no other options but to conduct all its primaries in the state with the statutory delegates.
Reacting to the development, CUPP spokesperson, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere hailed the court decision, urging the party leadership to save Imo PDP from extinction by taking a categorical stand and obeying the court as well as the directives of INEC, which restrained the use of “unlawful ad-hoc delegate list in the conduct of the primaries.
the ballot in the state,” the political activist warned.
The Abuja High Court had earlier reaffirmed its order barring the PDP from conducting fresh ad-hoc delegate congress or using any ad-hoc list for its primaries.
The Court at the resumed hearing, Friday, held that it would nullify any primary election conducted in the state if the party violated its valid and subsisting order and conducted any primary election with the already voided list or any other ad-hoc list pending the determination of the suit by the court.
On its own part, INEC which is also a party to the suit had stated that it would abide by the court order and will not accord any recognition to any ad-hoc delegate list or the result of any primary election in the State conducted with any purported ad-hoc delegate list.
The commission had also in a letter to the National Chairman of the PDP, stated that it would only recognize primary election results conducted with only statutory delegates.
