The five-member national panel of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to supervise the ward congresses to elect ad hoc delegates for the party’s governorship primary election in Bayelsa State arrived in Yenagoa on Thursday.
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State is the Chairman of the panel with Jimi Agbaje as Secretary while other members are Senator Grace Bent; Ajibola Muraino and Major General Kwashewe Kalayi (Rtd).
The ward congresses will hold in the 105 wards and the eight local government areas of the state on Friday.
Addressing party officials, governorship aspirants and supporters at the PDP secretariat in Yenagoa on Thursday, Umahi assured them that the panel would carry out its mandate diligently.
He warned that the panel would not accept any result that did not emanate from duly conducted ward congresses.
Umahi, who stated the guidelines for the exercise said, “We are going to announce to you the five man electoral panel that will be going to all the wards to conduct the election. People are not going to conduct election in their wards. It must be in wards that are different from theirs.
“So, as the secretary (of the panel) will announce the names, if you observe anybody that is from a particular ward that is nominated for that, you can raise an objection to that.
“But let me assure you that each aspirant is going to nominate an agent which we shall duly endorse; which means that in every ward you have two people that are conducting the election, and then you have 21 agents that are part of the process to observe the election.
“We will not endorse any result that is not from the process of duly conducted ward congress. We will not endorse it.”
