Chille Igbawua, a member of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, electoral panel and adviser to ADC National Chairman, David Mark, has told aggrieved aspirants, including former minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-deen to approach the party’s presidential primary appeal panel.

He reminded the aggrieved politicians that there are internal mechanisms put in place for grievance resolution instead of publicly rejecting the outcome of the primaries.

In an interview on Arise News on Tuesday, he said, “Anybody who is aggrieved by the primary process should go to the appeal and state their reasons. Saying you don’t agree with the process is jumping the gun.”

Amaechi had rejected the results of the presidential primaries, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.

The former Rivers State governor alleged that about 80 percent of party members across the country were prevented from voting during the exercise.

Also, Hayatu-Deen had announced that he would not attend the party’s presidential election results announcement, citing concerns over alleged widespread irregularities in the exercise.

He said, “The various electoral panels had appeal panels, which are on ground. So, the first appeal would come from screening. If you felt you were screened out unfairly, you will go to an appeal panel, and they will look at your case, and if you were right, you’ll be cleared. 

“These are the internal mechanisms that are put in place for grievance resolution. Now, these same panels are on ground for the primaries proper. Anybody who is aggrieved by the primary process, you go to the appeal, state your reasons. 

“So, I think it will be jumping the gun to say you do not agree, and then, well, maybe I expect that they will still go to the appeal panel.

“If you think things were not done correctly before the process started, it is known that these are human processes and something is bound to go wrong, and that is why the appeal panels were put in place, and it’s available for everybody.

“We withheld clearance for just two candidates, all of them got cleared by the appeal, and they contested the governorship primaries in their various states.”

Taraba State Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas, has urged residents of the state to contribute their quota towards the development and progress of Taraba.

The governor made the call on Tuesday in a goodwill message to the Muslim Ummah ahead of this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration.

The message was conveyed through his Special Adviser on Media and Digital Communications, Emmanuel Bello.

Kefas appealed to the people to uphold unity and avoid actions capable of creating division along religious lines.

“Let us therefore contribute in any little way we can towards building a Taraba of our choice,” the governor stated.

He noted that Taraba remains the collective heritage of all residents, stressing the need for citizens to work together to promote unity, security, peace, and development across the state.

According to the governor, the Sallah celebration comes at a time when many families are facing economic difficulties and have limited opportunities to spend quality time together. He described the festival as an opportunity for families, friends, and communities to reunite and share love.

Kefas also urged Muslim faithful to continue promoting values that foster peaceful coexistence and national unity.

The governor further cautioned politicians and supporters against violence as political activities intensify ahead of the campaign season.

“Let me also use this opportunity to remind us that this is a campaign year and we must approach partisan politics with a godly spirit, detest violence, and have an open mind and campaign on topical issues rather than slandering others,” he said.

The Peter Obi Media Office, POMR, has claimed that certain politicians are intentionally spreading harmful lies suggesting that the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential hopeful is against people from the North.

POMR stated that some politicians have wrongly portrayed Obi’s time as governor of Anambra State, claiming that he “expelled” Northern traders and beggars back to their home regions.

Ibrahim Umar, the spokesperson for POMR, said that there was no “expulsion” or ethnic cleansing that took place while Obi was the governor of Anambra State.

In a signed statement, Umar said unlike the negative stories being spread by those trying to create conflict in politics, Obi’s administration built a very strong, friendly relationship with the Northern and Muslim communities in Anambra State.

The statement said: “Peter Obi’s media office has observed the ongoing, unfounded, and completely harmful accusations that are trying to distort Mr. Obi’s record in governance. Peter Obi, who used to be the Governor of Anambra State, had notable interactions with people from Northern Nigeria while he was in office.

“It is unfortunate, but not surprising, that political rivals who cannot face Mr. are resorting to this. Obi’s outstanding track record of being responsible, managing finances well, and promoting development has once more fallen victim to old and damaging methods of dividing people by their ethnicity and region.

“To make it clear for well-informed Nigerians, we want to strongly say: The repeated false idea that Mr.” The claim that Obi “brought back” Northerners or specifically focused on Northern traders and beggars during his time as governor is completely untrue.

“During Obi’s time as a leader, there was a caring social welfare program aimed at helping poor people and unaccompanied children from different states who were in great need in Awka and Onitsha.

“There was never any kind of ‘expulsion’ or ethnic cleansing; rather, there was a well-organized social rehabilitation program that helped people from all over the country.

“Documents from his eight years in office show that even when the country faced serious ethnic and religious conflicts, Mr. Obi acted as a guardian for the Northern community, especially in areas such as the Onitsha Hausa Quarter (Ama Awusa).

“He put in a lot of effort to stop any revenge attacks in Anambra area, which gained him a lot of respect from local leaders in the North.”