Amid the crisis rocking the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, the National Leader of the party, Senator Seriake Dickson, has told the stakeholders and caucus leaders across the states not to shift blame.
NewsBits reports that the primary elections held by the NDC two weeks ago have been generating controversies, with many aspirants demanding a refund of the money they paid. Appearing on Arise News, Dickson, who played down the crisis, told the caucus leaders not to dodge responsibilities since they were the ones who chose the candidates.
He also blamed the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the crisis arising from the primary elections. In a follow-up post he made on his social media page, he said, “I urge all the stakeholders, caucus leaders, and other leaders in various states who coordinated the primaries to take responsibility and step up their game in terms of coordinating the reconciliation process.
“Most of the candidates are persons backed and recommended by them, and not me nor the national leadership of the party. It is not a time to shift blame or dodge responsibilities. Since they midwifed and managed the process of the primaries, they should equally help in supporting the party in coordinating the reconciliation process, of which they have the support of the party.”
Dickson, however, sympathised with the aspirants “over some noticeable irregularities in our just-concluded primaries”.
According to him, “I noted that, while not claiming that the exercise was perfect, I urged all of them to bear with the party in view of the circumstances we are managing, which have overwhelmed even bigger parties.
“This includes parties with a sitting President, 33 Governors, and control of political structures in most states, in the case of the APC, and even the ADC, which is over two years old.
“I made the case that we are just four months old and have been thrown into the middle of a very tight electoral timeframe, within which we had to carry out membership registration, congresses up to the national convention, primaries up to the national convention, appeal processes, and now the reconciliation phase.
“I identified the root cause of these challenges, my views on the Electoral Act have been clear: the APC-led majority were wrong in foisting compulsory direct primaries on political parties and the country. Complaints about irregularities in direct primaries are pervasive across all parties and are not peculiar to the NDC.
“I also noted that no party has announced any set of winners from its primaries, and neither has the NDC. The public should disregard any such claims in circulation, especially on social media, and await the party’s formal submissions through the appropriate channels. The results of party primaries are not announced like school results; they are communicated through formal channels.”
