The Ebonyi State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has debunked the claims that its newly elected Chairman, Mr Tochukwu Okorie, was foisted on party faithful through an undemocratic manner.
Mr. Silas Onu, one of the chairmanship candidates in the just-concluded State Congress held in Abakaliki, claimed in his petition to the PDP Congress Appeal Committee, which was sighted by our correspondent, that “Mr. Okorie failed to meet the minimum requirements for nomination and thus did not qualify to stand election at the Congress.”
He accused the party’s National Working Committee of gifting Mr. Okorie a nomination form contrary to the guidelines which stipulate that an aspirant must purchase a form for N750,000.
Onu also claimed that Okorie failed to meet the party’s deadline for the purchase and submission of forms, alleging that the party had a preset template for his emergence as the party’s Chairman, in Ebonyi State.
Reacting by way of his deposition sent to the Congress Appeals Committee sitting in Abakaliki, Okorie said, “there is no truth whatsoever in Onu’s claims. The Appeals Committee and the general public should disregard them as frivolous and baseless.”
Copies of his purchase receipt and nomination form were sent to the party headquarters in Abuja as proof, and were also made accessible to journalists.
“Not only did I correctly acquire the form within the specified window, but I also fulfilled the submission date, contrary to Onu’s assertions,” Okorie stated.
However, copies of the paperwork made accessible to journalists indicated that Okorie paid N750,000 for a nomination form, as required by the party’s standards.
Other papers made accessible to journalists include a financial waiver provided by the National Working Committee of the PDP to candidates in Ebonyi State, allowing them to get forms without paying.
Okorie argued that he ought not to have paid for the form since the party had granted a financial waiver and that he may go for a refund on account of same. Also shown to the media were documents showing the party’s approved deadlines.
He further said that his opponent Mr. Silas Onu, though having made blunders by making wild claims in the media, has been a hardworking party man. He called on him to retrace his steps, “Come back home and join hands with the newly elected Executive Committee of PDP in the state to rebuild the party” reiterating that, for him, “there is no victor and there is no vanquished”.
Recalled that seven aspirants had initially indicated their interest to vie for the position of the Chairman of the PDP, Ebonyi State chapter. Five out of them however willingly withdrew from the contest paving the way for a contest between Mr. Silas Onu and Mr. Tochukwu Okorie.
The State Congress Committee Chairman, Senator Ben-Collins Ndu, in his powers as the Returning Officer, had declared Okorie as the winner. Out of the 1,510 accredited delegates, Okorie polled 1,240 votes to defeat his only opponent who polled 262 votes. Eight votes were declared invalid.
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