Ahmed Makarfi

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has said it will not stop any aspirant from contesting for the position of it chairman of the party based on pending cases of corruption.

The eight aspirants fighting to become the next chairman of PDP at the convention of the party scheduled for December 9 in Port Harcourt are Raymond Dokpesi, Bode George, Jimi Agbaje, Taoheed Adedoja, Tunde Adeiran, Uche Secondus, Gbenga Daniel and Rasheed Ladoja

Dokpesi and Ladoja are being prosecuted by the EFCC for various corrupt allegations.

“If you play that game (disqualification of candidates based on pending EFCC case), that will be playing into the hands of the government in such a way that every one of us can be charged to court so that PDP will have no candidate,” Chairman, National Caretaker Committee of PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, said in Kaduna while playing host to one of the aspirants, Gbenga Daniel at the weekend.

“Except you are convicted by a court of law, nothing can stop you from contesting, even the general election, let alone party issue. So, we shouldn’t play into the hands of those we want to unseat,” he added.

Makarfi also said the National Caretaker Committee of PDP was not in support of the disqualification of some candidates by some mebers  of PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, in the South-West.

“The decision of the party is to be heard from the National Caretaker Committee and we didn’t say so and I can affirm that nobody was delegated to say so.

“Let me remind you that at the caucus meeting we had on Wednesday in Abuja, the BoT chairman categorically scolded those that did that and said they acted without directive and the action was ultra vires as far as the BoT was concerned.”

He also described reports convention might be postponed due to lack funds as false.