Adamawa gov election: Uncertainty over waiver for Marwa, Ribadu, others •Screening of PDP aspirants holds tomorrow

Barely 24 hours to the screening of the 14 governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the forthcoming Adamawa State governorship by-election, the leadership of the party is yet to address the applications for waiver submitted to it by some of the aspirants. Those who applied for the party’s waiver already, are the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and former presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), in the 2011 presidential election, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; the former Military Administrator of Lagos and Borno states, General Buba Marwa and the former governorship candidate of the defunct ACN  in the 2011 election, Marcus Gundiri and others.

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It was speculated that the National Working Committee (NWC), of the party would deliberate on the matter at its weekly meeting  last week Wednesday but could not do so due to what sources close to the meeting described as “due to the need to iron out certain grey areas before deliberating on such a  sensitive matter.”
However, the Nigerian Tribune, learnt that the party’s NWC would have no option than to take a final stand on the issue today  at its weekly meeting ,being the last meeting of the week. The Nigerian Tribune gathered that the continued silence on the issue by the leadership of the party was already creating anxiety in the camps of the governorship aspirants concerning their eligibility to partake in the screening of the aspirants ahead of the party’s primaries for the selection of its flagbearer in the governorship by-election.
However, some of the aspirants, including Umar Ado and Gulak, had kicked against indiscriminate issuance of waiver to aspirants without following due process as stipulated in the constitution of the party.
But one of the aspirants seeking for the waiver, Marcus Gundiri, had cautioned the party against yielding to the pressure of those kicking against the issuance of waiver to new entrants to the PDP, saying those of them that defected from the APC to the  PDP, were seasoned and grassroot politicians needed by the party for its victory at the poll.
Also, General  Buba Marwa, declared that the issue of waiver should not be a stumbling block for any aspirant as the national party leadership had earlier dissolved all the party executives at all levels in the state and carried out a fresh membership registration from which the current executive members at all levels contested for their current positions without the party demanding waiver.
This is coming just as the screening of the 14 aspirants, who obtained and submitted their expression of interest and nomination forms for the governorship race would hold at the National Secretariat of the Party in Abuja, tomorrow (Thursday).