PDP flags off e-registration exercise in Edo

The Peoples Democratic Party has flagged off the e-registration exercise of both old and new members in Agenebode, headquarters of Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.

At Ward 1, existing and prospective members of the party were seen as early as 9am seen filling registration forms given to them and waiting to be registered.

Director of Operations of the firm handling the project, Emmanuel

Nsubuisi, said registered members would have been issued identity cards immediately but some equipment arrived late.

He however promised that the cards would be ready by Monday.

According to him, “The project itself is highly complicated and technical because we have to do instant issuance. When you register their bio-metrics, you print their cards for them and you encode on the card instantly.

‎”Due to logistics reasons, some of the equipment could not arrive on time. But we are taking custody of them in the next one or two days.

Chairman of the e-Membership Registration Committee, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, said the PDP has begun an inclusive process of rebranding itself in order to conform with global best practice of political participation.

Chief Dokpesi said the e-registration would put an end to godfatherism within the party and create room for all members to be owners of the party.

Dokpesi warned that the PDP would collapse if younger generation were not given opportunity to aspire and participate in democratic processes.

“They (registered members) will contribute their own quota, so you don’t have to look for a godfather. You can imagine if you pay your N100 every month. For six million members, that the PDP at one time said it had, that would have been N6 billion in one month, N72 billion in a year. So, why are you looking for a godfather?

“When in August 1998, we said PDP, Power to the People. That means power resides with the people; it is the people that decide. But we now have a PDP where a group of people, when they get together, they determine who the governorship candidate is. They determine who the governor is, taking away the power from the people.

“When you are going into an election, unless you have a good godfather, or a powerful godfather and godmother, or a garrison commander, with your merit, you will not become what you want to become,” he said.

He continued, “In Edo North here, there were some certain persons who will determine who the councillors will be; who will determine who the local government chairman will be, will determine who will contest for state house of assembly.

“They alone will determine who will go for governorship; they alone will determine who will be minister. They will determine who will be president, they will determine (and) above all this one, the assistant to God because actually, they were quarter to God.

“And we said no; we have to try to return power to the people and the only way we can do it is to be a part owner of it, is to be able to properly get the ordinary man to play a role (and) to give him a voice.

Dokpesi, who is also the head of the reconciliatory and mobilisation committee of the PDP in Edo, warned that the “party will collapse,” if it failed to create an opportunity for the younger ones.

He said, “PDP as you can see have become party of the old men. We have to return the party to the younger generation. The times of the Anenihs of this world, of the Shehu Shagaris, of the Adamu Ciromas of this world, of the Babangidas and Raymond Dokpesis of this world have come and gone.

“This party will collapse if will do not encourage the younger ones and give them opportunity. After all, Shehu Shagari became a federal minister at the age of 18, (Richard) Akinjide became a minister at the age of 21; M. T. Mbu became an ambassador at the age of 20. Just all of them had the opportunity to get involved. They didn’t say they were too young then.

“The party is coming back with the policy of zero for primaries. We are saying if we have biometric registration. People don’t like this because they can no longer sit in their air-condition of their sitting room and decide the fate of others.

“We must return Nigeria to an ear where ordinary citizens of this country have the right to aspire to anything he wants to become without having some up there to push him. We are in an era of technology and we need this to rebuild the party, mobilize the youths and let the people know the core value of the reforms of the party.”‎