Chief Obiora Okonkwo, an aspirant in the Nov. 6 governorship election in Anambra says competence and not zoning should be considered in who becomes the next governor of the state.
Okonkwo, also the Chairman of newly floated United Nigeria Airways, stated this at an interactive session with newsmen in Awka on Thursday.
The aspirant, who recently declared his intention on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said equity and fairness demanded that aspirants from Anambra Central be given equal chance to contest.
He said the Central Senatorial District had not had enough opportunity to fly the PDP flag in the state since 1999.
The Chairman, who said he was making himself available to serve the state because he had all it took to transform the state, expressed the belief that God would give him victory.
Okonkwo said the issue of who became the flag bearer of PDP was an internal affair of the party.
According to him, it is wrong for members of other parties to try and influence how PDP manage their affairs.
He said apart from having a candidate, PDP needed a flag bearer that was acceptable to the people of the state.
Okonkwo said, “Primaries are PDP’s internal affair and not that of Anambra state, and since it is about who get the ticket of the PDP.
“It will be unnecessary for leaders of other political party to tell us where the candidate should come from.
“What is important for PDP in Anambra is victory, and winning the primary is not all, it has to be a God chosen candidate who will be able to win the main election and deliver good governance to the people.
“On zoning, Anambra Central has only had one opportunity to fly the flag of PDP and that was in 2003, Anambra North had flown it twice, in 2013 and 2017 while South has flown it three times in 1999, 2007 and 2010.
“So, I call on PDP members to pray and do due diligence to nominate the right candidate that would lead this difficult journey.
“It is not going to be easy because we are going to run against a party that has been in power for 16 years,” he stated.
Okonkwo said PDP was on the right track to victory with the quality and focus of its leadership in the state.
He said it was the right time for the party to reclaimed power in the state.
He said some aspirants from Anambra Central had met and dropped their ambitions in order to support his candidacy.
“For the records, it is a misconception to think that I am the only one that came out from Anambra central, initially there were a lot of aspirants that indicated interest to run, some of them have started their consultations.
“But they were wise enough for us to reason together to weigh our chances and they all agreed that among them, I am the person with greater chance to win.
“PDP is on the right track; first we have a stable and dynamic state executive down to the local government and ward level under the able leadership of Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu.
“Next is to ensure a credible and fair primary to choose the right candidate for the election.
“With an organised and stable state executive, free and fair primary election and the right candidate, it is time PDP took back Anambra because the people are yearning for PDP,” he said.
