PDP Dismisses Allegations Of Forgery Of Primary Election Guidelines

ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed allegation of forgery of its primary elec­tion guidelines.

This is even as Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye, whom the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu declared as the rightful person to occupy the position of the party’s Na­tional Secretary, said he was never arrested by the police.

Some sections of the media have been awash with reports of forgery by the PDP, suggest­ing that its Primary Election Guidelines have allegedly been compromised, even the media linked the alleged arrest of Udeh-Okoye to the forgery of the guidelines.

Reacting to the alleged forg­ery, PDP, in a statement by its spokesman, Hon. Debo Ologu­nagba, said that the party’s Pri­mary Election Guidelines as approved by the party have not by any means whatsoever been compromised by forgery as be­ing peddled in the said reports.

Denying any act of forgery whatsoever, the party said that it has been made aware that “the misleading reports are at the in­stance of certain resentful indi­viduals who, as agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are desperately seeking ways to create a scandal, discredit the integrity of PDP’s internal processes and bring the party to public ridicule.

“Our party is shocked by the level of desperation being displayed by these individuals reportedly with the backing of a particular top official in the APC administration who had on several occasions vowed to destroy the PDP to enable the APC entrench a totalitarian and oppressive one-party system in our nation to the resentment and detriment of Nigerians.

“The PDP has also been made aware of the involvement of these disgruntled individu­als in inducing disagreements in some chapters as well as the intimidation, threats and police harassment of some officials, staff and members of the party.

“Our party is appalled by the scandalous and reprehensible attempt by these desperate in­dividuals to drag the police and a Magistrate Court in Abuja into the party’s internal affairs despite pronouncement of var­ious courts of higher hierarchy including the Supreme Court, stating that issues touching on the nomination of candidates for elections are strictly inter­nal affairs of political parties over which the courts have no jurisdiction.”

The PDP said it remains strong, undeterred and will continue to firmly resist any onslaught or machination by an­ti-people forces who are seeking to destabilise the party, emascu­late opposition, undermine the nation’s democracy and instill an oppressive one-party regime against the will of the people.

“Our party reassures all members and teeming support­ers that its Primary Election Guidelines have not been com­promised by forgery and such reports of forgery should there­fore be disregarded,” PDP said.

Denying his arrest in a tele­phone chat with the media, Udeh-Okoye said, “I am not in any detention, I am in my house in Enugu and I’m not under any form of arrest.

“I am not involved in any forgery of a document and I will not get involved in forgery of any document. I did not tell anybody to forge any document, and nobody forged any docu­ment for me.”

He further explained that he was invited to the Abuja police station last Wednesday but was told to go after 20 minutes.

He promised to cooperate with the police in their investi­gations.