Meanwhile, with the 2014 Guideline as released by the PDP, all political appointees may have been sidelined as delegates to the convention where the emergence of President Jonathan as the party’s sole candidate for the party for the February, 2015 Presidential election would be sealed.
The PDP has said that having taken a decision at the National Executive Committee, NEC meeting to adopt President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole candidate, no other party member would come up as an aspirant for the position.
Confirming the position of the party that delegates will vote, PDP National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh in a telephone conversation stressed that the party will hold a presidential nomination primary election where delegates shall vote to ensure that the ratification of President Jonathan as the sole presidential candidate was carried out. According to him, “our constitution is clear on this.
There will be a convention and voting will take place. However since he has been endorsed by the NEC, we do not expect responsible and respectable loyal party members to challenge this wholesome acceptance and endorsement”.
The Party’s position is in line with the provision of the Electoral Act (2010 as amended) which said primaries must be conducted, for the nomination of presidential candidates of political parties, just as section 87 (1) stipulates that “A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Act shall hold primaries for aspirants to all elective positions.”
Same section 87 (2, 3 and 4) said , “The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct or indirect primaries.
A political party that adopts the direct primaries procedure shall ensure that all aspirants are given equal opportunity of being voted for by members of the party. A political party that adopts the system of indirect primaries for the choice of its candidate shall adopt the procedure outlined below:
“In the case of nominations to the position of Presidential candidate, a political party shall, hold special conventions in each of the 36 States of the Federation and FCT, where delegates shall vote for each of the aspirants at designated centres in each State Capital on specified dates, a National Convention shall be held for the ratification of the candidate with the highest number of votes.
“The aspirant with the highest number of votes at the end of voting in the 36 States of the Federation and FCT, shall be declared the winner of the Presidential primaries of the political party and the aspirants name shall be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the candidate of the party after ratification by the national convention”, the act specified.
The same procedure in the Electoral Act which is applicable for the nomination of governorship candidates in the state said that, “In the case of nominations to the position of Governorship candidate, a political party shall, where they intend to sponsor candidates: hold special congress in each of the local government areas of the States with delegates voting for each of the aspirants at the congress to be held in designated centres on specified dates.
The aspirant with the highest number of votes at the end of voting shall be declared the winner of the primaries of the party and aspirant’s name shall be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the candidate of the party, for the particular State.”
The PDP in its presidential guidelines has listed the categories of members that would vote at the presidential nomination primary election on December 6 which excludes the political appointees, just as those expected to vote at the December 6 ratification primary election include the national chairman of PDP and all members of the National Working Committee (NWC), the President and the Vice President, all PDP members of the National Assembly, all PDP Governors as well as all governorship candidates that has emerged from the various congresses of November 29.
Other delegates to vote at the December 6 national congress to ratify the President include, all PDP members of the State Houses of Assembly, all members of the Board of Trustees (BoT), all working committee members of the six geo political zones, all the 36 states’ chairmen and their secretaries, all state women and youth leaders, as well as all party chairmen of the local government areas and one national delegate elected from the 774 local governments.
Also on the list are all elected local government council chairmen, former members of NWC, former deputy senate president and deputy speakers of the House of Representatives that are still members of the party.
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