The Campaign Council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia has said that there is no confusion in the party over the choice of a Deputy Governorship Candidate for the upcoming election.
The Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of the council, Chief Eze Chikamnayo, stated this in a statement issued to newsmen in Umuahia on Monday.
The statement is entitled, “There is no confusion in Abia PDP – Amah spoke for himself.”
He was reacting to a report in a section of the media credited to the party’s Acting Publicity Secretary, Chief Abraham Amah.
According to him, Amah was said to have stated in the publication that the party’s National Working Committee had submitted the name of Chief Okey Igwe as the Deputy Governorship Candidate to INEC.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Igwe was the running mate to the late Governorship Candidate of the party, Prof. Uche Ikonne.
He was, however, replaced with a University of Nigeria, Nsukka Lecruer, Dr Jasper Uche, following the decision of the party caucus to bring a fresh candidate from Umunneochi Local Government Area, where Igwe also hails from.
Chikamnayo, who is also the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, maintained that Amah “may have inadvertently expressed his personal opinion, bias or sentiment” on the choice of a deputy governorship candidate and should be disregarded.
He maintained that the Abia PDP had earlier submitted Uche’s name, which had been published INEC Gazette as the deputy governorship candidate.
He said: “As it stands, Dr Jasper Uche, whose name has been duly submitted to INEC after the party’s fresh primaries, occasioned by the painful demise of Prof. Ikonne, remains the party’s authentic deputy governorship candidate.
“As the Chairman of Abia PDP Media and Publicity Committee and after due enquiries, I can confirm that there is no confusion in the Abia State PDP as is being erroneously reported by a section of the Media with respect to the position of the Deputy Governorship Candidacy of our great party.
“Firstly, the matter of the Deputy Governorship Candidacy of Abia PDP is subjudice as Okey Igwe, in defiance to party Rules and Regulations, have approached the Court on the matter with all parties duly served.
“Therefore, neither Chief Amah nor any other legal person has the authority to pronounce on the matter until after the ongoing judicial intervention.
“Secondly, any letter from any source being bandied by any individual or group to create confusion should be totally disregarded.
“Such documents, if authentic, can only assist the Courts if and when they are properly presented therein,” Chikamnayo further stated.
He therefore advised members of the party, the media and public “to disregard the needless controversy and sustain the tempo of the current campaign” to deliver the party’s governorship candidate and House of Assembly candidates on Saturday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the death of Ikonne and an attempt by the party caucus to replace his running mate, Ahiwe with Uche, had continued to generate controversies in the party.
Meanwhile, a letter addressed to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, dated February 20 and jointly signed by PDP National Chairman and National Secretary, Dr Iyorchia Ayu and Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, reaffirmed Igwe as the authentic deputy governorship candidate for Abia.
A copy of the letter, which was made available to newsmen, stated that the party “mistakenly and inadvertently” submitted Uche’s name to the commission.
It, therefore, urged the commission to disregard it. (NAN)
