The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party assumed another dimension on Thursday as the disputed National Chairman of the major opposition party, Ali Modu Sheriff, cancelled last Monday’s primary, which produced Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as its candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State.
Rather, Sheriff yesterday inaugurated five committees for the conduct of a fresh primary for the Edo governorship poll scheduled for September 10.
The earlier primary conducted by the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee four days ago, had produced Ize-Iyamu as the party’s standard bearer for the same election.
But while inaugurating the committees for the conduct of a fresh primary, Sheriff cited Section 50(1) of the PDP constitution, which he said was derived from the provisions of the relevant sections of the Constitution and the Electoral Act, as the reasons behind his decision to cancel the earlier one.
The committees set up for the purpose of conducting the fresh primary in Edo include those of screening, Aappeal, ad-hoc delegate, ad-hoc delegate appeal and the main governorship primary.
Sheriff said that the fresh primary would hold on Wednesday, next week in Benin.
The PDP chairman, however, accused the Makarfi-led committee of importing “Fulani herdsmen” to occupy the premises of the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
