From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
A group, Concerned PDP Youths of Southern Kaduna, has condemned in strong terms alleged campaigns of calumny by Senator Danjuma La’ah against Senatorial candidate of the PDP, Sunday Katung for the 2023 elections.
The group said the campaign was aimed at discrediting the senatorial candidate and the conduct of the primary elections.
However, Senator La’ah has distanced himself from the accusation, saying that it was a falsehood aimed at tarnishing his good image by enemies of progress.
In a swift reaction through his Director of Media and publicity, Marvis Akau, Senator La’ah said the petitions against Katung did not emanate from his camp.
Mr. Sunday Katung won the Kaduna South PDP senatorial primary with 112 votes, defeating six others including the incumbent, Danjuma La’ah, who came second with 74 votes.
However, speaking at a press briefing in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jama’a local government area of Kaduna State, leader of PDP group, Mohammadu Akwantas, said La’ah’s camp had resorted to all manner of smear campaigns and petitions against Katung instead of congratulating him.
“All the other contestants who lost congratulated the winner and even asked their supporters to work for the victory of the party in 2023.
“Regrettably, Sen.La’ah has refused to concede defeat or congratulate the winner even though Mr Katung had magnanimously reach out to him.
“Instead the senator and his men engage on smear campaigns against the candidate who won.
“A clear example is the collaboration with an officer of the state internal revenue service who concocted a baseless allegations that bother on tax evasion.
“Expectedly, the party headquarters has since thrown the frivolous petition to dustbin for lack of merit.
“But the desperation from the senator’s camp has seen them device other means meant to spite the winner and cast aspersions on his hard earned reputation,” he added
Akwantas said the accusation of monetary inducement to delegates, in a petition against the winner of the primary was a case of pot calling kettle black.
According to him, they had sufficient evidence of La’ah’s many attempts to induce delegates with cash and motorcycles.
He also alleged that the group was contacted by La’ah’s camp to mobilize a protest against the suitability of Katung to stand for election in 2023 but refused.
He advised La’ah to retract his steps and congratulate the winner of the primary as well as work for the victory of the party at the polls.
He added that it was regrettable that a man given the mandate of representing the zone for two terms would refuse to accept defeat but would rather be working to scuttle the will of the people.
The group’s leader noted that the senatorial seat belonged to every citizen of the zone and not the birth right of one man.
He called on the people of Southern Kaduna to support the ambition of the PDP candidate for a better and prosperous senatorial district.
But Akau denied mobilizing youths for protest against Katung as alleged by the group, noting that nothing could be further from the truth.
“Sen. La’ah does not know anything about any petition neither does he know anything about any protest.
“The people that wrote the petition are known to them and are all in their various local governments. So, they should stop spreading falsehood against Senator La’ah”.