A chairmanship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Plateau state chapter, Hon. Bitrus Kaze has vowed to fight to the end until justice is served to all members of the state chapter of the party. Kaze made this known in a press statement entitled “WHY PILATE IS JITTERY IN “VICTORY”” made available on his WhatsApp campaign group page “Kaze is Our Choice” where he stated that he could easily forego his chairmanship ambition to pursue the collective goal of restoring fairness which is not negotiable.

He went down memory lane to recount the woes of the PDP in 2015 and 2019 when it suffered humiliating defeats in the general elections consecutively in a row.

He described the recently concluded congress of the state chapter of the party where Hon. Chris Hassan was declared the winner of the chairmanship contest with Hon. Bitrus Kaze trailing behind as runner up as a “…rehearsal….”

Read the full text of the press statement below:

WHY PILATE IS JITTERY IN “VICTORY”

On Friday 28th August 2020, it was widely reported in the media that fourty (40) aspirants (plus my humble self) announced our boycott of the purported Plateau State PDP Congress schedule for Saturday 29th August in Jos.

1. I witnessed the Gov Ortom intervention of 19th August in Abuja where it was resolved inter alia that a new State Caretaker Committee (CTC) be constituted to review the litany of litigations that trailed the Hon YG Choco regime preparatory to their withdrawal.
2. A statement issued by the PDP National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan on 26th August announced the constitution of the Sen Suleiman Adokwe-led CTC to run the party for a period “not exceeding 90 days”. The new CTC took over around 8p.m on Thursday 27th August, without resolving any petition and after the resignation of two members, staged the purported State Congress within 48 hours. Prof Dimis Mailafiya and Hon Jacob Dashe earned our resounding applaud for towing the path of conscience.
3. My crude understanding of some facts as at Friday 28th August is that;
   a. There’s an uncontested court judgment which restrained the PDP from conducting any State Congress until the party congress is conducted in Jos North LGA;
   b. There were violations of the party Guidelines For The Conduct Of Ward, LGA, State, Zonal Congresses And The National Convention issued in January 2020;
   i. Paragraph 4.0(a-f) Screening Of State Executive Committee Aspirant,
   ii. Paragraph 8.1. a)(i) State Screening Committees
   iii. Paragraph 14.1(1) & (4) State Congress Appeal Panels
   For instance, Paragraphs 4.0 (c), (d) & (f) is reproduced for ease of reference;
   “The result of the Screening shall be announced, and a copy prominently displayed at the State Secretariat of the Party.”
   “Any aspirant aggrieved by the decision of the Screening Committee may appeal in writing to the Screening Appeal Panel within 48 hours from the time of the announcement of the result of the screening and the Screening Appeal Panel shall pronounce its decision on the appeal within 48 hours from the receipt of the petition.”

The Screening Committee was not constituted, no screening result was displayed at the State Secretariat, the Screening Appeal Panel as well as the State Congress Appeal Panel were never constituted for Plateau.

An agent was appointed for me in my absence to justify the 22 votes they dashed me just to ridicule me. People who were desperate to rehearse the State Congresses on 29th August never went for meet-the-delegates tour to any LGA. They are jittery in self-acclaimed “victory” like the Roman Pilate who despite vindicating Christ chose his throne over justice.

Duty beckons on us to challenge the crass illegality. Make no mistake about it, it is costly but freedom is not free. I can easily forego my State Chairmanship ambition but our collective goal to RESTORE FAIRNESS is not negotiable. I wish thank our teeming supporters and indeed all people of goodwill for their support thus far, please accept my apologies for my inability to cope with the traffic of concerned callers.
Remain calm, no lamentations, no insults. The race has just begun no retreat, no surrender.

It’s crystal clear why PDP lost Rayfield in 2015 (the Chief Raymond Dabo and Sen Ike Ikweremadu-led post-mortems suffice). Our loss in 2015 laid the foundation for another loss in 2019. We cannot keep repeating the same mistake and expect different results. As a State Chairmanship aspirant who conceded defeat in 2016 despite “a recorded over-voting of about 20 percent of the total number of accredited delegates” (Daily Trust 12th May 2016), the overwhelming disapproval of the 29th August prep-congress is heartwarming.

Bitrus B. Kaze
Aspirant PDP State Chairman

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No surrender, no retreat—Kaze blows hot