PDP Should Stop Deceiving Imo People And President Jonathan

Government Of Imo State

Press Release

.The Party Has No Substantive Governorship Candidate

With every sense of responsibility, we want to call on the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the State to stop deceiving Imo people in particular, Nigerians in general and President Goodluck Jonathan who is the leader of the party, over the uncertainty that has enveloped the party following its inability to resolve the issue of who is the substantive governorship candidate of the party.

It is interesting to inform Imo people and Nigerians as a whole that the Imo PDP has four cases now in various courts of the land over who won the governorship primary of the party held on Monday, December 8, 2014.

One of such serious cases is at the Federal High Court Abuja with Senator Ifeanyi Ararume as the plaintiff and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as the respondent. The second case is the one already at the Supreme Court now by some delegates who participated in the governorship primary. The third case is instituted by the former governor of the State and one of the key governorship aspirants, Chief Ikedi Ohakim. His own case is also at a Federal High Court and he is asking the court to declare him the authenticate governorship candidate of the party because both Senator Ararume and Hon Ihedioha never paid their party subscriptions for years in line with section 8 sub-sections 10 and 15 of the party’s constitution.

The fourth case is equally at the Federal High Court and was instituted by one of the aspirants Hon. Chidi Ofoegbu over the omission of his name during the primary and he is therefore asking the court to cancel the entire governorship primary exercise of the party, PDP. And we all know that the issue of omission is a serious one following the provisions of 2010 electoral law.

What all these court cases mean for the Imo PDP is that, the party in Imo State has no substantive governorship candidate at the moment especially in the eyes of the law. Therefore any vote for the party in the forthcoming election is a total waste.

It is equally important to make this point clear. INEC does not give political parties candidates. The truth of the matter is that, with the situation on ground, who will be the substantive gubernatorial candidate of the PDP will be decided by the court, which nobody can predict for sure, when that will be.

So, voting for PDP in the governorship election in the state is like one throwing his or her Permanent Voters Card (PVC) into an ocean and it does not make sense. No Imo man or woman would like to cast his or her vote for uncertainty. Voting for such an uncertain situation is more or less foolhardy.

Again, a party that has four cases in courts over who actually won its governorship primary cannot be trusted with power coupled with the billions of naira they had spent on delegates, party leaders in Abuja and now in court cases.  Governor Rochas Okorocha therefore still remain the best for Imo people in the 2015 guber election. And Imo people will continue to appreciate this candid fact to the glory of God.

Sam Onwuemeodo

Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media