Incumbent Senator representing Plateau Central, Diket Plang, alongside several aggrieved aspirants of the All Progressives Congress on Thursday stormed the party secretariat in Jos, Plateau State, to submit petitions challenging the conduct and outcome of the recently concluded APC primaries in the state.
The aspirants, who described the exercise as deeply flawed and lacking transparency, called on the party’s appeal committee to nullify the results and conduct fresh primaries in affected constituencies.
Among those who submitted petitions were Chris Giwa, aspiring for the Plateau North Senatorial seat; Ephraim Usman Gar, aspiring to represent Plateau Central Senatorial District; John Tongshinen, whose victory for the Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency seat was later disputed; Beatrice C.J Dakas; and Komsol Alphonsus Longgap.
Addressing journalists after submitting the petition, Senator Plang said the aggrieved aspirants remained loyal members of the APC but could not remain silent over what he termed “the worst primary election” he had witnessed in his political career.
“I am a former councillor, former commissioner, former local government chairman, former member of the House of Assembly, former adviser to governors and former NAPEP coordinator in this state. I am here as a serving senator,” he said.
According to him, the petitioners were dissatisfied because, in many senatorial districts, no proper elections were conducted despite results later emerging.
“Where elections were attempted in some places, it was withdrawn. It was never continued. Even when announcement came that elections would continue, results were already being announced elsewhere,” he alleged.
Plang further accused some party officials of allocating votes instead of conducting actual elections.
“I am a sitting senator representing five local governments. For somebody to sit down and allocate 1,423 votes for me as an incumbent senator is total blackmail. It is offensive, unacceptable and cannot be tolerated,” he stated.
The senator maintained that direct primaries were introduced to allow registered party members freely choose candidates, lamenting that the process in Plateau failed to meet democratic standards.
He also alleged that aspirants and their agents were excluded from the process, claiming there was no proper accreditation, display of voters’ registers or issuance of result sheets at polling centres.
“We only saw figures on social media. No copies were given to us. This is unacceptable,” he added.
Plang, however, insisted that the aggrieved aspirants were not fighting the party leadership or the state governor but individuals allegedly manipulating the electoral process.
“We remain loyal to the party, but whatever has been done should be nullified and proper guidelines for elections must be followed,” he said.
Meanwhile, supporters and stakeholders who accompanied the aspirants to the APC secretariat were seen chanting solidarity songs and rejecting the announced results, insisting that “an election that did not take place cannot have results.”