Some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains in Taraba State reportedly engaged in a brawl on Thursday over a leadership position.
Tracknews Media learnt that the party stakeholders from Donga Local Government Council engaged in a physical altercation. The chaotic event reportedly occurred in the Executive Chambers of the State Government House due to the failure of the party chieftains to agree on a candidate to represent the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the upcoming local government elections.
Unlike previous occasions where candidates were selected through the party’s primary, this time, the councils were instructed to reach a consensus on their candidates.
It was gathered that the inability of the Donga stakeholders to agree on a candidate led to the outbreak of fights, prompting the former Majority Leader of the State House of Assembly, Captain (Rtd) Douglas Neatse, to confront those who opposed his chosen candidate.
The former assembly leader, who engaged in a physical fight with some PDP stakeholders from the council, was alleged to have been desperate to impose an unpopular candidate on the people of the council ahead of the forthcoming poll.
One of the stakeholders who was allegedly slapped by the former majority leader told journalists shortly after the incident that trouble started when all PDP critical stakeholders in the local government resolved to respect the PDP zoning arrangement that has been on the ground since 1999.
The stakeholder, Garalie Suntai, who was a former councillor, said the former majority leader, who opposed the stakeholders’ decision, insisted that the political zoning arrangement of the PDP in the council would not be allowed to see the light of day.
Irked by the alleged misdemeanour of the former assembly member, he said, “It is unfortunate that Ndatse, who is a product of PDP zoning arrangements in Donga council, has chosen to oppose the idea that has kept PDP in Donga under one umbrella.”
Adding that “Why he is fighting us publicly is because 99 per cent of us have agreed to consider the normal zoning arrangement that PDP has been using in the local government, which has kept the people in peace politically.”
The former Assembly member, according to Suntai, “is opposing the decision that can best be described as a unanimous decision,” stating that he is “insisting on ideas that would not only consume PDP in the local government but also capable of bringing disunity among the various ethnic groups in the area.”
Aligning his weight to that of Suntai, another stakeholder from the council who craved anonymity, expressed sadness at the alleged inability of the state governor, Agbu Kefas, to allow aspirants seeking the position of council chairmen and councillors to emerge through the primary.
“His decision for the candidates to arrive via consensus would be inimical to the growth of our great party and could as well cause more crises across the sixteen local government councils,” Tracknews Media quoted the PDP chieftain saying.
However, the former majority leader, who was alleged to be at the centre of the controversy, reportedly did not respond to his calls and messages sent to him by journalists in an attempt to hear from him.
