NDC Faction Denies Bishop Ossai As Senatorial Candidate For Enugu North

The legal action instituted by Bishop Oscar Ossai, claiming to be the senatorial candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress for Enugu North Senatorial District of Enugu State, is an exercise in futility.

The Secretary of a faction the of NDC in the state, Dr Sebastine Okafor, disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Enugu on Wednesday.

Ossai had approached a Federal High Court in Abuja praying the court to quash the candidature of Dr Pat Asadu, who was uploaded in the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission as the party’s standard-bearer during the 2027 general election.

Okafor claimed that Ossai cannot challenge what does not exist, adding that there was no primary election that produced him.

Okafor said based on INEC reports of the primary election conducted in the state, Dr Chika Obetta was the candidate of the party.

He said, “You cannot challenge what does not exist. There was no primary election that produced Bishop Ossai. INEC reports remain important in establishing what transpired, and democracy must begin from within the political party.”

Okafor accused Ossai of colluding with a faction of NDC in the state to sideline a democratically elected state executive of the party, led by Dr Johnpaul Anih. He said it was an irony for Ossai to be seeking justice over what never existed.

According to him, “Undemocratic practices can only weaken the party, while party members deserve transparency and fairness. Political ambition must not override due process.”

He also praised the NDC G80, a family of aggrieved aspirants within the faction. In his words, “The G80 aspirants chose truth and democracy. Their position shows that there are still party members who are prepared to stand for what is right, even when doing so may not serve their immediate political interests.”

Okafor said the remedy to the crisis bedeviling NDC in the state was to return to the drawing board.

“The crisis in Enugu NDC requires urgent attention. The party must return to democratic principles. All these people parading themselves as candidates had no primary election that produced them, which INEC has clarified.

“They cannot claim legitimacy or seek to benefit from a process that never produced them in the first place, as the law cannot validate what did not occur,” Okafor said.

THE WHISTLER reports that NDC in Enugu State is polarized since the release of the party’s candidates. The Ani-led group claimed that the list released by INEC was handpicked by the national headquarters of the party, and insists that its candidates were produced through a primary monitored by INEC. The faction however admitted that the acclimated primary was not monitored by NDC’s national body.