Confirmed! Dariye to contest APC senatorial primary from prison

Former governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, has picked the All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination form to represent Plateau Central for the third term at the Senate in the 2019 general elections.

Dariye is currently serving a 14-year jail term over misappropriation of public funds when he served as a Plateau State governor.

This development was confirmed in Jos on Tuesday by the publicity secretary of the APC, Plateau State chapter, Mr. Chindo Dafat.

He said, “Yes, Sen. Dariye has picked a nomination form to seek a third term. It is true. He is among those jostling for the APC ticket in Plateau Central.

“His (Dariye)’s ward secretary came and signed the form on his behalf. It has been filled and his supporters are already campaigning ahead of the party primary election.”

Those according to him the convicted senator is set to battle for the party ticket are Zakari Dimka, Sam Piwuna, and Manji Pompori.

Noting that the former governor “can win the primary elections from prison”, Dafat added that the former governor was still “very popular and relevant in Plateau Central in spite of his current ordeals.”

Dariye had appealed his conviction, and Dafat said they are praying for him and that he may have his conviction upturned.

He further said,“Aside possible success in the appeal, we are also praying for a state pardon. That is another possibility.

“Dariye is very important to our party, unfortunately, this happened to him. It is not that we cannot win elections without him; we can win without him, but he has done a lot and is well loved by his people.

“Somebody could be in the hospital or prison and pick a nomination from from there. We have no right to deny anyone a nomination form. Even INEC cannot stop Dariye from contesting the 2019 elections.

“There is no law that stops him from buying the form. Whoever comes for the nomination form can get it. I see it as a constitutional matter. Only the court can disqualify him. If Dariye wins elections from prison, he will not be the first Nigerian to do that. Iyiola Omisore, from Osun, once won a senate seat while in prison.”

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Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the development as “shocking, strange and embarrassing”.

According to Mr. Ben Shignugul, PDP vice chairman, Plateau Central, “It is shocking that a convict serving a 14-year jail term will be given a nomination form to contest an election. This is just ridiculous. The nomination form has a portion which requests aspirants to state whether they were once convicted; I wonder what information Dariye provided in that column.

“He (Dariye) is our illustrious son and we sympathise with him. We expect him to be sober and reflect on what has happened to him, instead of allowing himself to be dragged around by desperate politicians.”

 

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