TheCable

Two members of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdul-Jhalil Tafawa-Balewa and Akasoba Duke-Abiola, were at the party’s national secretariat on Tuesday to purchase presidential nomination and expression-of-interest forms but were declined.

Tafawa-Balewa (pictured), son of first republic prime minister, the late Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, told journalists that he paid N20m for the nomination form and N2m for the expression-of-interest form into the party’s Zenith Bank account.

“I came to the national secretariat of PDP in Wadata House, Wuse Zone 5 to obtain my presidential nomination form and expression-of-interest form. I presented to the officials a N20m presidential nomination teller obtained from Zenith Bank and another teller of N2m from the same bank for the expression of interest form, but after turning me around from the office of the national chairman and the national organising secretary, I was eventually asked to come back again on Thursday,” Tafawa-Balewa said.

On her part, Duke-Abiola said she had paid N2m into the party’s Diamond Bank account for the expression of interest form. The party exempts female aspirants from paying for nomination forms.

“I have the receipt from the party after paying my money. But they said they printed only one presidential nomination form, even though the guidelines do not say that,” she said.

“The NOS and the national chairman said the party printed only one form. I asked that they should give the one they printed to me since I was there. They laughed and said whether I didn’t know who they printed it for. This is a fraud.”

Duke-Abiola said that if the party refuses to give her the forms, she might take the matter to court to enforce her fundamental human rights.

PDP caucuses, including the National Executive Council (NEC), had endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s sole presidential candidate.

It was an action Tafawa-Balewa condemned , saying it was a plot by the leadership of the party to frustrate other presidential aspirants.