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The Peoples Democratic Party’s Screening Committee has disqualified four senatorial aspirants from the Bayelsa Central over alleged irregular tax clearance, membership dues, anomalies in documentations and other sundry issues.
The affected aspirants are; the former speaker and current majority leader of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Monday Bubou Obolo, Mr. Gideon Ekeuwei, Mr. Charles Ambaiowei and Surveyor Igo Goin.
Bayelsa PDP senatorial aspirants were disqualified over irregular tax clearance, and failure to pay membership dues among other issues.
The Hon. Muraina Ajibola-led screening panel from the PDP national secretariat received nomination forms from six senatorial aspirants with only one for the Bayelsa West and five for the Bayelsa Central.
After the exercise, the committee cleared former governor, Seriake Dickson, the only aspirant for Bayelsa West, and Chief Cleopas Moses from the Bayelsa Central while other four aspirants were disqualified.
Sources close to the panel indicated that there are over five different grounds of disqualification of the four affected aspirants, ranging from non-possession of valid PDP membership card, non-payment of membership dues, irregularity in names on certificates, irregularity in court affidavit and irregular payment of tax clearance.
The source informed that most of the disqualified aspirants only hurriedly rushed to obtain their 3 years tax clearance about two months ago, indicating that they evaded tax payment for 2 years.
“Imagine some of the aspirants had no valid PDP membership cards, no passport photographs on some cards. Also, the party must be careful when nominating candidates with multiple names on their certificates. Then, for 3 years they were not paying taxes. They didn’t pay in 2018, 2019, and now because they want to contest rushed to pay. They have broken the law already. They are also not smart enough even if they want to cheat the system. The evidence of payment of tax clearance for 3 years is reflecting payment was done in one day this year”, the source said.
A source told our correspondent, “it has become difficult for the screening panel to wave provisions of the PDP and Nigerian Constitution on requirement for eligibility, insisting that the disqualified aspirants should blame themselves and not anyone.
“The only options available to them is to proceed to the Screening Appeal Panel to disprove the earlier report of the screening”, the source said.
Meanwhile, supporters of some of disqualified aspirants had during the week staged a peaceful protest, calling on the committee to retrace its steps.