I Would Have Formed My Faction Of PDP If Port Harcourt Convention Had Held – Dokpesi

One of the strong National chairmanship hopefuls of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Raymond Dokpesi has said that with the intrigues that heralded the botched national convention of the party in Port Harcourt, he would have been forced to form his own faction of the party.
A statement issued by media aide to his Campaign organisation, Omor Bazuaye, quoted him as saying that the closure of the convention ground by soldiers and police afforded members a rare opportunity to resolve the leadership crisis in the party.
According to Dokpesi, the shift in date of the convention assisted in no small measure to prevent a situation that could have further complicated the situation with the kind of factionalisation that could have happened if the convention had gone ahead as scheduled.
He expressed surprise that on his arrival in Port Harcourt, he found out that PDP governors had anointed the former PDP Governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje for the position.
To effect their plot, Dokpesi lamented, the Governors went on to lobby delegates from the North by asking them to obey the “micro zoning“ arrangement which was unilaterally decided by them.
He said that fortunately, delegates from the North refused to be a part of the scheme, insisting that it was Raymond Dokpesi, who had gone round the country they wanted to vote for.
Dokpesi said he had established a special bond with the people across the country, adding that it is absolutely impossible for the conscience of the delegates to be bought at the last minute.
“When they brought the message to anoint Agbaje to the people, everybody started screaming that it was Raymond Dokpesi they want to vote for. So the Northern elders ordered them to go to the field.”
Dokpesi saw a situation where the governors would have caused a lot of confusion as it might not have been convenient for delegates from PDP controlled states to go against the wishes of their governors who were hell bent to install the next Chairman.
Dokpesi described Ali Modu Sheriff’s court as a saving grace from the massive rigging that had been perfectly worked out even as he called on all aggrieved members to use the respite created by the shift in date to resolve the crisis.
“If you listen to Ali Modu Sheriff and the governors, you’ll clearly see the ego at play.”
On his case with EFCC over alleged involvement with N2.3 billion proceeds of money meant for the procurement of arms from the office of ex-National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki and the credibility issues that  could come with it, Dokpesi is optimistic that he would come out of it clean. [myad]