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Delta state chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not tolerate any form of imposition, even as it put up a strong demonstration of its women friendly disposition with a declaration that nominated women for the council polls are not to pay any nomination fee.

Chairman of the party, Olorogun Kingsley Esiso, a barrister at law announced this party’s decision at a press briefing Friday where the time-table of the party for the council elections was also unfolded.

Answering a Reporters’s question which was a against the backdrop of claims in some quarters that the emergence of candidates were being teleguided by some leaders of the party in the local government who are using all manner of tricks to impose their favoured ones as candidates, Barrister Esiso said: “We will deal with issues of imposition. The party will not tolerate any form of imposition.”

He acknowledged that some selection processes had gone on in the party, he said it was a novel idea introduced by the party to ensure the emergence of popular candidates agreeable to the party’s rank and file in the wards and local government areas. He explained that the move was to reduce what happened in the past when a community of aspirants trooped out to buy nomination forms when just only one is required from tha local government area.

He said: “We felt it is not too healthy to manage the number of aspirants. We decided that leaders of every ward should talk to their members so as to bring out only one person acceptable to all to go for the election. We are trying to ensure that not many aspirants come to buy nomination forms. We think it is not healthy for 10-20 aspirants to come to buy forms from a local government.”

He explained that the idea would help to nip in the bud the conflict that would have arisen with many persons rushing out to buy nomination forms, and thereby helping to conserve funds that would have unnecessarily been wasted with the throng of many aspirants.

Besides, Esiso the initiative has an inbuilt mechanism to give opportunity to those who may not be satisfied with the decisions that may throw up certain candidates. He said: “There is the nomination form and the Expression of interest form. Anyone collecting expression of interest forms means that the person is not satisfied with the candidate nominated earlier by the party leaders.”

Announcing the party’s local government elections time-table, Esiso said:
* Sales of forms to aspirants is from Tuesday 10th – 17th Tuesday, October, 2017.
* Screening of Aspirants, Wednesday 18th – 21st Saturday, October, 2017.
* Party Primaries (Councilors) Wednesday 25th October, 2017.
* Party Primaries (Chairmen), Thursday, 26th October, 2017.
Party Run-off Primaries (if any), Friday, 27th October, 2017, and
* Consideration of Appeals by Appeal panel, Saturday 29th October, 2017.

The chairman also announced the cost of nomination forms as follows:
* Chairmanship aspirants will buy the forms for N1 million.
* Councilorship aspirants N200,000
* All women aspirants will collect any of the nomination forms for free. “It is to encourage the women,” Esiso said, pointing out that PDP is a gender friendly party.
“Apart from giving the women nomination forms free, we also told the party in every local government to ensure that no fewer than three females are nominated from each local government. It is all to encourage the women folk,” he added.

Answering another Reporter’s question, Esiso said that as far as he was concerned that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is still in PDP, pointing out that PDP in Delta is one big political family. We have the capability to resolve any form of problem. We are going into the council elections like one big family. No body will decamp from PDP in Jesus name,” he prayed.