Implosion in Abia PDP as Igwe’s camp rises against substitution

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Anger over the insensitivity of some factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State to sideline initial Deputy Governorship candidate in the upcoming March elections may have finally sealed the chances of the party in returning to Government House in Umuahia.

A coalition of youth groups under the aegis of Abia North Solidarity Forum (ANSF) has vowed to work in solidarity with Barr Okey Igwe to recover his candidature for the position in the prevailing race to retain the PDP at the Government House.

Barr Igwe has however called on his supporters to remain calm over the “attempt to unlawfully subvert my candidature,” assuring them that illegality would not prevail against the will of the living and the dead.

Leader of ANSF, Chief Uchenna Okoroafor, who spoke with The Oracle Today during a meeting at Isuochi hometown of Barr Igwe declared the determination of the group rise against oppressors in the state with polling force if the candidature fraud was not quickly resolved.

He youth groups and leaders of the party in Abia North stand with Barr Okey Igwe in his present ordeal, pointing at the massive efforts and resources committed by the young politician in the gubernatorial race.

He added that groups and coalitions covering all the three zones of the state stand with the original Uche-ndi-Abia campaign structure, warning that opportunists in the state must respect the will of late Professor Uche Ikonne who forged a credible alliance that connected the three zones of the state vertically.

He denounced those he said were working with opposition parties to destabilize and weaken PDP in the state to pave way for the opposition to win the imminent polls in the state.

Chief Okoroafor declared: “I am aware of a grand design by some political actors in the state who have infiltrated the PDP with the sole purpose to disconnect the party from the people and cause disenchantment that would ruin our chances at the polls.”

He said those working against the party are foisting substitution of feeble and unpopular candidates to smoothen victory for the opposition in the state.

A women leader, Mrs Joy Nwagwu, also declared that Abia PDP ladies who were brought together by the late Prof Ikonne and Barr Igwe in the Uche-ndi-Abia campaign would remain loyal to structure, warning that the demise of party’s candidate should not be seen as personal opportunity but as collective loss to the party.

Mrs Nwagwu made it clear that hamstringing of late Prof Ikonne’s political ally and running mate after his death was most insensitive and disrespectful to the late Professor who died campaigning for the party.

The Oracle Today reports that after driving the governorship campaigns towards the polls and spending fortunes in laundering the party for acceptability of the electorate, the party’s leaders have swung an immoral scheme that left Hon Barr Okey Igwe in the cold.

Barr Igwe was the running mate in a joint gubernatorial ticket with the Late Professor Uche Ikonne who surprisingly took ill and died in the heat of the heat of the party’s heated campaigns in one of the most hotly contested governorship races in the state.

The unfortunate demise of Professor Ikonne had poured cold water on the Uche-ndi-Abia campaign of the duo which had significantly sold the people on the promises of rapid economic recovery and accelerated development plans propounded by the team.

In replacing the late candidate, expectations that Barr Okey Igwe would pick the relay baton succumbed to the decision of the party’s leaders in the state to retain the governorship position in Abia South from where the incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu hails.

But anger flared at the weekend when it was announced that the Barr Okey Igwe, who had jointly and amicably driven the party’s governorship campaign with late Prof Ikonne and also continued advancing the crusade alone when his candidate was hospitalized, has been totally dropped from the ticket in favour of a new running mate.

Mass supporters of the lawyer and law maker have since gone sabre rattling, threatening protest vote against the PDP if the Barr Igwe’s position in the gubernatorial race was not immediately restored.

Anger particularly boils in the Abia North zone of the state where Barr Igwe wields massive influence among the political elite and the grassroots who have seen his rapid and swift winning streak from council elections to the House of Assembly.

Youth groups, women movements, diaspora supporters and party stalwarts in Umunneochi local government area, Abia North zone and the entire state who express anger over the inhuman face of the brazen ticket fraud vehemently demand restitution before it is too late for the party to recover already lost grounds.

The justifiably angered lawmaker and guber contender, Barr Igwe, also blows hot; warning that the injustice planned against him might boomerang on the party.

He however calls on his supporters to remain calm over the “attempt to unlawfully subvert my candidature.”

He still stridently warns the PDP gubernatorial candidature in the state remains vulnerable and too weak to stand against the rising strength of opposition parties cashing in on the massive disenchantment related to manipulations in picking credible and justifiable candidates for the race.

In describing his substitution in the guber race as purported, Barr Igwe stressed that he has committed his soul, resources and energy to the course of victory for the PDP since his nomination alongside the late Prof Ikonne.

Igwe stated that whereas he has accepted the passing of his lead candidate painfully as the will of divinity, his candidature as the running mate in the PDP governorship race in the state subsists in accordance with the constitution and the Electoral Act.

In reacting to war songs by his teeming supporters, he maintained that his candidature subsists and appealed to be calm but resolute against evil plots to subvert the will of the people.

“I wish to use this medium to thank all my supporters, fans and all Abians of good will for your phone calls and show of concern in the face of attempted substitution of my candidature as the duly nominated and subsisting deputy gubernatorial candidate of the PDP, Abia State for the 2023 General Elections.

“I have committed my soul, resources and energy to the course of victory for our party since my nomination alongside my late boss. My boss passed, and I have accepted his passing, albeit painfully, as the will of divinity. Yet, my candidature subsists in accord with the constitution and our Electoral Act.

“Indeed, certain entrenched interests that are and were opposed to what Prof and myself represented towards charting the course of a new, sustainable Abia, have arisen against me. I will advise them to see reason, exercise due caution and understand that their attempt to unlawfully subvert my candidature shall fail and worse still render the entire PDP gubernatorial candidature inchoate – that will amount to pulling the rug from the under the feet of our great party.

“Finally, I want to charge all my supporters to remain law-abiding and stay the course towards victory. Attempted perfidy shall surely fail. God bless you all.”