A group of thirteen contenders for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmanship in Kogi State have collectively dismissed the alleged endorsement of Mr. Enemona Anyebe as the consensus candidate.
Reports had surfaced that a committee of party elders and former governors had backed Mr. Anyebe for the role.
However, during a press conference in Lokoja, the spokesperson for the aspirants, Aruwa Ismaila, labeled the endorsement as fictitious and misleading, existing only in the minds of those behind it.
Ismaila, representing the collective voice of the aspirants, emphasized the need to correct the record to prevent deception among the public and PDP members.
“We state that at the scantly attended meeting of Kogi East critical stakeholders held at Lokoja on Monday 29th April, 2024, the Elders Review Report on Zoning which was presented was outrightly rejected, especially on the issue of the Elders going outside their mandate to source for and nominate one Mr. Anyebe from Olamaboro.
“We the chairmanship aspirants spoke through our spokesperson, Mr. Ismaila Aruwa, which is me, at the meeting and advocated for outright rejection of the Review report which even fell far short of the initial zoning committee report led by Hon. Tom Zakari. Our position has not changed.
“We hereby profoundly and vehemently reject the Elders’ Review Committee Report. It should be noted that at no time between 29th April to 1st May, 2024, was any meeting held to the knowledge and or in consultation with the spirants to solicit for our views and or our input on the zoning issues.
“We the aspirants have not delegated our position to any Elder to canvas on our behalf nor are we ready to do so going forward.”
Ismaila further criticized the endorsement of Mr. Anyebe as an overreach of the PDP leadership in Kogi State and an attempt to undermine their authority.
“The purported endorsement of Mr Enemona Anyebe as the party’s consensus Candidate is an affront on the Kogi State PDP leadership and a benign attempt to overreach their mandate and authority and such is hereby outrightly rejected.
“It is to be noted that one of the sponsors of Mr. Enemona Anyebe, Chief John Odawn called a meeting at Egume and told PDP supporters that a vote for Dino is a wasted vote and that they should all rally around the Social Democratic Party, (SDP) candidate.
“It is no surprise therefore that he finds it more convenient to sponsor one of his surrogates who is ‘Anti Party Personified’ to be PDP State chairman.
“By this, the party is already compromised ahead of 2027. We cannot continue on the same path of impunity and imposition that has led the party to disastrous electoral losses over the past 12 years.
“On the issue of the so-called Mr. Enmona Anyebe who never showed interest in the contest for state chairmanship, and did not participate in the screening and personal presentation processes before the zoning committee in Lokja on 20 January, 2024, his purported candidature is dead on arrival.”
