Taraba NDC gubernatorial aspirant Johnson leaves the party

Former Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship aspirant Philip Johnson has left the party, claiming that the primary election for the Taraba State governorship was rigged against him.

In a resignation letter addressed to the Taraba State Chairman of the NDC, Johnson said he had legitimately won the party’s primary, which was held across the state’s 16 local government areas, but that the results were later altered.

He maintained that the primary was conducted peacefully and transparently, and that the collation of results initially indicated his victory.

According to Johnson, the party’s congress panel announced that the final results would be declared in Abuja at the behest of the National Secretariat.

Johnson further alleged that the outcome was subsequently changed in favor of another aspirant whom he claimed had been defeated at the polls.

He accused the NDC of abandoning the principles of justice, fairness, and democratic values on which it was founded, lamenting that the declared candidate continued to receive the support of party leadership while his complaints were ignored.

“It is unfortunate that a party which presented itself as a platform for progressive change and democratic values has chosen to embrace the very practices it was expected to reject,” he wrote.