The Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, Hon. Chris Hassan, has stated that no political party in Nigeria has a structure like the PDP, saying the allegation of no structure against the party in the state is baseless.
Hassan told newsmen in Jos, Plateau State, on Thursday that the judgment against the party, especially concerning the State Assembly, House of Representatives, and Senate, was a big surprise to the party and the generality of the people of the state considering the overwhelming support given to all the candidates of the party in the last elections.
He explained that the PDP complied with the court order, hence why it conducted another state congress where a new state executive emerged, adding that all the guidelines were strictly adhered to in line with the constitution of the party and the electoral act.
He said, “There is no political party in Nigeria today that is well structured like the PDP; all other parties evolve from us; no constitution of any political party is as structured as the PDP. The records are there for people to see, and the PDP complies with all the required guidelines for the Congress and primaries that were conducted.
“When the Court ordered us to go for another state congress, we complied, and the state executive emerged, and the person who contested with me, Bitrus Kaze, congratulated me on the spot there, and nobody filed a petition or took the party to court on account of this.
“The judgment is a robbery to the people of Plateau State; those that were sacked would have touched our lives. It is very painful and annoying that after the people voted en masse for these people, the mandates given to them were withdrawn.
“We attained the requirements that allow us to participate in that election. There is not a single person who came out to protest the outcome of the election; nobody went to court. Looking at it critically, it is the APC that has no structure because, up until this very moment, they are in court over their state Congress in Plateau State.”
The State Chairman of the PDP, who expressed optimism that the National Judiciary Council (NJC) will do justice and review the judgments delivered in respect of state and national assembly petitions, added that the PDP in the state is not afraid of elections.
“We have written the National Judiciary Council for the review of those cases, and I want to believe that they would attend to the petition because that is their duty and they have done it before.
“PDP is well rooted in Plateau State; if you conduct elections ten times, PDP will continue to win. If our party can unseat a sitting government by a wide margin, it will win five House of Representatives seats, two Senate seats, and 16 members of the State Assembly. Ever since those judgments were passed, Plateau has become a ghost town. People are sad because they know the judiciary is not fair to us.
On the governorship petition, he expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will do justice but warned that the judgment against the PDP so far can lead to voter apathy in the future.
This kind of thing can lead to voter apathy in future elections. When you vote for somebody overwhelmingly and suddenly the mandate is turned down, next time you might be discouraged from coming out to vote.
“So a country is respected by its democratic institutions; if you want to invest in a country and there is no democratic institution in place, people will not invest. Look at what is happening in Nassarawa State; why are they treating us in the North Central this way?” He said.
. TheWitness
