A candidate of the ruling APC in the Delta State 2015 house of assembly election has warned that his party may lose out in the forthcoming by-election in the state.
The by-election is to fill the vacant seat after the death of Omawunmi Udoh, the lawmaker representing Warri South Constituency One.
Robinson Ariyo issued the warning on APC’s possible loss, while talking about the crisis in the party in the State.
Correspondent Carl Ofonye reports that the crisis rocking the Delta State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC dates back to 2014 when one Chief Adolo Okotie-Eboh and others dragged the party to court over the process adopted in electing the state executive committee.
In a suit number A/245/2014 filed in the high court of Delta State shortly after the APC Congress of April 26, 2014, Chief Adolo and others urged the court to nullify the process that brought in the Prophet Jones Erue-led executive committee.
Chief Adolo and his followers contended in the said suit that the process followed in electing Prophet Jones and others did comply with APC guidelines.
On the 30th of April 2015, the court did not only nullify the process as prayed by the claimants, it also ordered the party’s national leadership to organise a fresh Congress for the purpose of electing the Delta State executive committee of the APC.
But since then, no concrete step has been taken by the APC national leadership to resolve the impasse.
This now gives Robinson Ariyo, an aspirant in the party for the forthcoming by-election to fill the vacant seat of Warri South Constituency 1 in the state house of assembly a cause for concern.
Barrister Ariyo who was also the candidate of APC in the 2015 election for the Warri South Constituency 1 seat is not happy that the party leadership can not obey a simple court order believed by many to be in the best interest of the party.
Meanwhile, according to the time table released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, all political parties fielding candidates for the by- election are to conclude their primaries between the 4th and 11th of April 2017.
Last date for the submission of form 001 and list of nominated candidates is April 21, 2017, while Wednesday April 26, 2017 is the election day proper.
What this means is that if urgent steps are not taken by the APC national leadership to resolve the crisis, Delta State chapter of the party might not have a valid candidate for the election.
