Taraba NDC guber aspirant, Johnson dumps party

Former governorship aspirant of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, in Taraba State, Philip Johnson, has dumped the party, alleging that the governorship primary election was manipulated against him.

Johnson, in a resignation letter addressed to the Taraba State Chairman of the NDC, alleged that he legitimately won the party’s governorship primary election conducted across the state’s 16 local government areas but was later denied victory through what he described as an alteration of results.

He claimed that the primary election was conducted peacefully and transparently, with the collation of results indicating that he emerged victorious.

He, however, alleged that at the point of official declaration, the party’s congress panel announced that the final results would be declared in Abuja on the directive of the National Secretariat.

The former NDC governorship aspirant further alleged that the outcome was subsequently changed in favour of another aspirant whom he claimed to have defeated at the polls.

He accused the party of abandoning the principles of justice, fairness, and democratic values upon which it was founded, lamenting that the declared candidate continued to enjoy the support of the party leadership while his complaints were ignored.

“It is unfortunate that a party which presented itself as a platform for progressive change and democratic values has chosen to embrace the very practices it was expected to reject,” he stated in the letter.