One of the Governorship Aspirants of the Ruling Party, All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Patrick Sunday Dakum, has cleared the air on why he joined some other aspirants to stage a walkout during the just-concluded Primary Elections which were held on Thursday 26th May, 2022 in Plateau State
Dr Dakum while addressing Newsmen in Jos, said the election was highly compromised, marred by intimidation of delegates by top Government officials in the State and other avoidable irregularities that tampered with its integrity.
He stated that he was unhappy with the manner in which the primaries were conducted and that the outcome was not a true reflection of the minds of the delegates and party faithful, as it fell short of what is expected of an election by the ruling party, which should be transparent, free, fair and credible. Stating that such development may be responsible for taking us ten years backward and the people in charge should be responsible for truncating development for not doing the right things they ought to have done.
The public health expert while recounting his experiences, said it all started during the campaign period prior to the primaries, with the list of delegates not being disclosed to the Aspirants as such making it impossible to know who the Delegates were, also making it impossible to campaign to the delegates only to be later told few days prior to the Primaries that the delegates were to be accommodated by the government when it was just nearly impossible to campaign and meet delegates in one Night.
He said he was however confident going into the primaries being that he toured all the 17 Local Government Areas in the State twice, met with party officials, discussed his plans for the State and sought for their support, a feat no other Aspirant could achieve.
He said during the Primaries, the venue had government officials and some suspicious security personnel that had no business being at the venue as they were neither delegates nor officials for the primaries. He said he was also shocked that in the Local Government Area that started the election (Qua’an-Pan LGA), only two delegates could write, even when it was obvious that most of them were literate. He disclosed that the same thing played out in other Local Government Areas.
Dr Patrick Sunday Dakum pointed out that Local Government Council Chairmen and officials were around to influence who delegates will vote for as the delegates were not given the opportunity to freely cast their votes for the Aspirant of their choice.
“There was a lot of intimidation on the delegates, you could see them being very terrified as you could see government officials hovering all over the place to ensure the delegates go a particular direction,” he said.
Dr Dakum further stated that they have channeled their complaints to the Appeal Committee and awaiting the verdict to know the next line of action to take also pointed out that if nothing is done about their petition, he will consult with the stakeholders and people who believe in the consolidation vision to take the appropriate decision.
He appreciated all those involved in the “Consolidation Movement”, saying the goal of going into the contest for Governorship is borne out of a deep passion for Plateau State, inclusivity in the governance of the State and a deep passion not to “throw the baby with the bathwater” He urged his supporters to stay calm and peaceful as they engage the leadership of the party to look into the issues presented.
Recall that the All Progressive Congress APC recently held its Gubernatorial elections in Plateau State which saw three (3) aspirants staging a protest walkout and four(4) others making last-minute withdrawals. The election however continued with Aspirant, Dr. Nentanwe Yilwatda later declared the winner of the Primary Election after he polled a total of 803 votes out of the 922 total votes cast.