- As PDP Panel Screens Out Four Aspirants In Bayelsa Central
From Joseph Obukata (The New Diplomat’s N’Delta Correspondent)
Former Governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson has emerged as the lone candidate for the Bayelsa West Senatorial District bye-election.
The New Diplomat reports that a former chairman of the PDP in the state, Cleopas Mose, also scaled through the screening hurdles to emerge as lone candidate for Bayesa Central senatorial district.
This followed the outcome of the National Screening Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party which disqualified four aspirants from the race over alleged irregular tax clearance, membership dues, anomalies in documentations, among other issues.
Among those screened out from contesting the two vacant senatorial seats are a former Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, Gideon Ekeuwei; former Speaker and current Majority Leader of the House of Assembly, Monday-Bubou Obolo; former state Chairman of the party, Charles Ambaiowei; and a party chieftain, Igo Goin.
The PDP panel, led by Muraina Ajibola, on Saturday, received nomination forms from six senatorial aspirants with only one for Bayelsa West Senatorial District while five were for the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District.
The Bayelsa Central Senatorial district comprises of three local government areas of Kolokuma/Opokuma, Yenagoa and Southern Ijaw councils.
At the end of the screening exercise, the committee cleared former Governor Seriake Dickson as the only aspirant for Bayelsa West and Cleopas Moses, a former Chairman of PDP in Bayelsa, for Bayelsa Central.
The other four aspirants were disqualified by the committee.
Top party sources close to the panel claimed that the disqualification was due to non-possession of valid PDP membership cards, non-payment of membership dues, irregularity in names on certificates, irregularity in court affidavits to irregular payment of taxes.
According to one of the sources, who did not want to be mentioned, most of the disqualified aspirants only hurriedly rushed to obtain their three-year tax clearance about two months ago, a development that indicated that they allegedly evaded tax payment for two years.
The source stated, “Imagine, some of the aspirants had no valid PDP membership cards, no passport photographs on some cards. Also, the party must be careful when nominating candidates with multiple names on their certificates.
“Then, for three years, they were not paying taxes. They didn’t pay in 2018, 2019, and now because they want to contest, they rushed to pay. They have broken the law already.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission had fixed October 31 for the conduct of the by-elections.
