Nigeria’s opposition Action Congress (AC) party has accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of lacking internal democracy, after the latter handpicked a candidate for the South-east Anambra state’s governorship election in Feb. 2010.
The decision to pick former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Charles Soludo as candidate on Friday followed the failure of the primaries held in the state to select one of the 47 aspirants on the platform of the PDP.
The primaries were inconclusive after allegations of rigging as well as massive violence.
In a statement obtained by PANA here Sunday, AC said the decision to handpick a candidate shows that the ruling party lacks internal democracy, ”and therefore not qualified to rule a complex country as Nigeria”.
“Lack of internal democracy, propensity for autocracy and wilful imposition of candidates are the hallmarks of the PDP, hence it has not been able to deepen democracy in our dear nation.
“On what basis was Soludo picked as the PDP candidate in Anambr’ How can a par ty that cannot successfully conduct primaries in one of the Nigeriaâ?s 36 states preside over the affairs of such a complex nation. The PDP calls itself the biggest party in Africa, we call it the biggest rigging machinery in the whole wide world,’ AC said.
It said despite the clearly undemocratic emergence of Soludo as the PDP candidate in Anambra, ”there is no doubt that the PDP-controlled federal government will put at his disposal all the rigging might of INEC, the police and a huge sl ush funds to try to upstage other parties.
“We must warn, however, that the people of Anambra State have vowed to defend their votes. As they are convinced that Soludo the PDP candidate is a product of illegitimacy, gangsterism and rigging which can only give birth to anarchy and disaster!’.
Soludo will go head-to-head against the candidates of other parties, including the AC and the factionalised ruling party in the state, APGA, in next year’s election.