Fresh crisis seems to be brewing in the
Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP as two
presidential aspirants who had already paid
the sum of N24million for the party’s
presidential nomination and expression of
interest forms were rejected on Tuesday,
October 28, 2014 at the national secretariat
of the party in Abuja.
The two aspirants, Dr. Abdul-Jhalil Tafawa-
Balewa and Prof. Akasoba Duke-Abiola had
gone to the national secretariat to purchase the
form but were turned back, Punch reports.
In September, the National Executive Council of
the PDP had endorsed President Goodluck
Jonathan as its sole presidential candidate in
the forthcoming 2015 elections, a decision
which some members frowned at, insisting they
will contest the presidential primary with him.
Tafawa-Balewa, the son of Nigeria’s First
Republic Prime Minister, the late Abubakar
Tafawa-Balewa who was the first to arrive,
stormed the secretariat with his supporters and
bank tellers, which indicated he had deposited
N22m into the party’s account Number
1012436478 with the Zenith Bank.
N20m was paid as nomination fee and another
N2m for the expression of interest form.
He had come to the secretariat with hopes of
purchasing the presidential nomination and
expression of interest forms but rather than
being issued the forms, he claimed to have told
by officials of the party that the all other forms
were on sale except the presidential
nomination and expression of interest forms.
He said: “I have paid for my forms. I was
however told that they don’t have the forms
ready. No matter, I am still here. I will send
some of my people here on Thursday to come
and pick the forms .”
The second aspirant, Duke-Abiola, who is one of
the widows of the late Chief MKO Abiola
described the action of the party as
questionable, while wondering why the party
would issue her receipts and refuse to sell the
forms to her.
She had her own teller which indicated she paid
N2m to the party’s bank account with Diamond
bank for expression of interest form as the
nomination form was free for female aspirants.
She said: “I have the receipt from the party
after paying my money. But they said they
printed only one presidential nomination form,
even though the guidelines do not say that.
“The NOS and the National Chairman said the
party printed only one form. I asked that they
should give the one they printed to me since I
was there. They laughed and said whether I
didn’t know who they printed it for. This is a
fraud .”
She however said that she would not ask for a
refund of her money, but that the party must
sell the forms to her as she has already paid for
them and there was vacancy in Aso Rock.
In his reaction, the National Publicity Secretary
of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said he would
need to find out from the National Organising
Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, as he was
not aware that the aspirants came.
“I will have to find out from the national
Organising secretary, because I’m not directly
involved in the selling of that forms. I’m only
involved in the management of the image of the
party ,” he said.