PDP Warned Over Southeast Aspirants

 

                  The Southeast Revival Group (SERG) warned yesterday the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the zone to desist from fostering anti democratic tendencies, which can be contagious to other parties and jeopardise the genuine wishes of the people.
                    It said its warning was in response to media reports that aspirants perceived to have supported the House of Representatives Speaker, Waziri Tambuwal, were under watch and would be stopped at all costs from becoming candidates in the general elections.

A statement by the National Coordinator of SERG, Chief Willy Ezugwu, said the party would be applying double standards if it okayed consensus candidacy at the national level and opposed it at state level, even when this is what the indigenes want.
The statement said: “We find it worrisome that only Southeast aspirants are being singled out on the basis that they were reported to have supported the emergence of Tambuwal as the Speaker. “
 The newspaper report mentioned Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha as those who would be stopped. Where then is democracy when people are being hounded for acting in what they perceived as being in the best interest of their constituents?”
SERG said: “In the case of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, we understand that almost all other aspirants present at the meeting where he was endorsed voluntarily stepped down for him and subsequently endorsed him as the consensus candidate. These aspirants could not have acted contrary to the wishes of their support base, which is a valid component of democracy.
“We will not allow this to be dismissed as the internal affairs of a party because past experiences have shown that it is a matter of time before the contagion spreads to other parties with the implication that the elections will lose credibility and acceptability even before they are held. One must therefore act now that there is still time to stop any attempt at stifling those wishing to contest the elections.”
The group advised President Goodluck Jonathan as the leader of his party to review the activities of those who claim to be working for him, as they may subvert his interests for their selfish whims and can eventually trigger crises for the nation.