BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA-AS the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, commenced the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms ahead of December 3, 2011 gubernatorial election for Kogi State, the exercise Wednesday began with protest by some members of the party from the state.

The protest is coming from members in the camp of Jibrin Isa (Echocho) against the backdrop that the group is kicking against fresh primaries in the state.

Apparently not comfortable with the decision by the leadership of PDP to jettison the outcome of the governorship primaries, protesters from Kogi State under the aegis, Kogi PDP Frontiers, yesterday, stormed Wadata House national secretariat of the party to register their grievances.

Meanwhile, a governorship aspirant from the state and son-in-law of Governor Ibrahim Idris, Captain Idris Khalla Wada was at the PDP secretariat to pick the party nomination form after paying the mandatory N5 million fee.

Speaking with journalists, leader of the Kogi PDP Frontiers, Mr. Johnson Musa, who noted that the people of Kogi State were planning mass defection from PDP if the 2010 governorship primary that produced Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho as the PDP candidate was not upheld.

It would be recalled that the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party had last Friday after a meeting with stakeholders of the Party from the State, including elected officers, had announced its decision to conduct fresh primaries in the six states where the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will be conducting staggered governorship elections beginning with Kogi state on December 3.

According to Johnson Musa , “the last primaries had produced unequivocally and unanimously elected a candidate in the person of Alhaji Jibrin Isah. He was presented with the party flag at Lafia during President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign in the north central zone”.

“Now what is about to happen is that our party wants to give the ticket to an unpopular candidate, the implication is that the opposition party in the state will have a field day on the December 3 elections”

“We have come to proclaim that the idea of a re-run primary is unpopular and will only result in mass exodus of votes to the opposition. Already, there are pointers to an impending protest votes because of the decision to change the PDP candidate.

“The PDP is about to lose Kogi State because we are going to mobilize for mass exodus. We will not recognise any other counterfeit candidate. Alhaji Jibrin Isah is the only candidate we know”.

Answering questions from Journalists after picking his form, Captain Wada who expressed optimism that he would win the party’s primary, however declared that the protesters from his state were only exercising their democratic rights.

According to him, “ My comment is that we are in a democracy. That is the beauty of democracy. It is the choice of the people. You don’t expect hundred percent of the people to support a person or an idea. That is why we have opposition party or things like that. So we are human beings.

“I am glad and we should thank the Almighty God that we have a situation, where people are allowed to freely express their disagreement over a particular situation. But as a citizen, I have come here today with the support and belief in the Almighty God to express an interest in the gubernatorial election and to also tell the leadership here of my interest.”