Convention: Lamido threatens legal action against PDP over chairmanship interest

Former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, has threatened to sue the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should the party fail to sell the national chairmanship nomination and expression of interest forms to him.

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Mr Lamido issued the threat on Monday in Abuja when he visited the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, to obtain the forms, but had yet to be attended to.

The former governor aims to contest the national chairperson position at the party’s forthcoming convention slated for 15 and 16 November in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

“If I am not able to get the form, I will go to court, simple,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the screening of aspirants for the national convention, earlier scheduled for Tuesday, was shifted by the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC).

Mr Lamido expressed surprise that the party’s National Organising Secretary (NOS), whom he visited at his office to buy the forms, said that he was unaware of who had the forms or how many of the forms had been printed for sale for the positions.

When asked if he was aware that the National Organising Committee for the convention was in charge of the sales of forms for the convention and if he had contacted the committee, he said he was unaware.

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“I am not aware of this announcement. It’s a family affair. I mean, it’s entirely for the family.

“There is no controversy. There is no division. There is no hassle. You know, if you don’t get organised, how will you run a political party?

“So, what they did in terms of the announcement, I have no idea. I’ve never heard of it. By tradition, I should know the forms are sold. That’s why I came here (Wadata Plaza).

“So, if they are being sold somewhere else, then I’ll find out where, because they are now under the chairmanship of the National Convention Organising Committee.

“So, Fintiri is now holding the forms. So, I have to go to Adamawa and buy the form,” he queried.

He said he was not aware of the endorsement of Kabiru Turaki as the consensus candidate for the national chairmanship position.

“ There was no stakeholders meeting where such a decision was agreed.

“Consensus? If there are consultations, there can be consensus. But if there are no consultations, then we are not united on board. I mean, the zone where I came from, we never met.

“We were supposed to meet on Wednesday and the governor of Zamfara booked a hall at Transcorp Hilton Abuja for the North-west stakeholders to meet and come up with some kind of understanding.

“So, we never met. The zone never met. That’s the problem. But it’s not the last one,” he said.

Mr Lamido advised PDP to put its house in order if it must make an impact in future elections.

“PDP should be able to organise its own house to run the party based on the policies of the party, doing the right thing at all times.

“The only way we can win is by having a party that is disciplined. If the party is not organised, if we don’t follow our own constitution and procedures, how do we win elections?” he asked.

He also dismissed the allegations that the party governors were not in support of his candidature because of his alleged identification with the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

READ ALSO: National Convention: PDP postpones screening of aspirants

Meanwhile, the National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, and the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, who were in the office at the time of Mr Lamido’s visit, also claimed ignorance of the arrangements for the convention.

Mr Anyanwu said he was not aware of the process of the sales of forms, even though he has an ambition to contest the elections, adding that he did not know the number of forms printed for the convention.

Mr Bature, on his part, said that though his office was responsible for the sales of forms for the elective office, he was unaware of the printing and sales of the documents.