By Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
A former State Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party PDP in Taraba State Hon. Stephen Othaniel on Tuesday said that the party lost the Karim Lamido 1 State Constituency By-election to the All Progressives Congress APC primarily because there is no sense of direction in the party and the State Governor has grossly failed in his first Two years in office.
Othaniel disclose this while interacting with journalists in the aftermath of the outcome of last Saturday’s election where the candidate of the APC won .
He said that the PDP has been a very organised and focused party in the past and ensured that elected officials work in the best interest of the people. However, the story has not been the same lately with the leaders of the party operating with nonchalance and impunity.
“Ordinarily, PDP would have won the election without stress because Karim has been a PDP place right from day one. However, the people gave their mandate to a PDP candidate who betrayed them by resigning as a Member to take up appointment as a Commissioner.
“The situation is further exacerbated by the very poor performance of the governor in the last Two years. It has never been this bad since the creation of the State. For Two years, with the highest allocation to the State and the highest amount of borrowing, it is unimaginable that the Governor has done practically nothing for the first Two years in office. How can the people still trust the party. This is a clear message ahead of 2027. It is not just about Karim. This is a statewide message” Othaniel said.
The State Assembly candidate of the NNPP in the last general elections commended the INEC and security operatives for playing their roles well to ensure a free, fair and credible process and urge them to maintain the same level of neutrality in subsequent elections to maintain credibility and people’s trust.
“Generally, the election has been free, fair and credible. INEC did come out and discharge their duties according to the electoral act. I give them 85% pass mark and that is to tell you that they are prepared for 2027. Also, the security personnel: for more than 30 years that I have been in politics, I have never seen the security act in a proactive way as this. Some offenders have been caught. Can you imagine that a sitting member can go to the length of snatching ballot papers. Thank God that the security personnel responded to the call of the people. As I am talking to you, they are in security custody. They would be prosecuted according to the laws of the land” he said.
He also observed that the State Governor has not shown sufficient commitment to address the glaringly deteriorating security situation in the area, thereby turning the people against him and this the protest votes.
