2023: PDP Stops Senator Abaribe From Contesting Abia Governorship

Through a bizarre zoning arrangement announced on Saturday, the Governor Okezie Ikpeazu-led Peoples Democratic Party in Abia State has put a roadblock to the governorship ambition of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe who currently represents Abia South in the Nigerian Senate.

After a meeting of its State Working Committee, the Abia PDP announced that it had zoned the 2023 governorship position of the state to the Abia Central and Abia North Senatorial Districts of the state.

The Abia PDP said the decision followed wide consultations with leaders and stakeholders of the party across the 17 local government areas of the state.

The Abia PDP Chairman, Alwell Asiforo Okere, in a statement on Saturday, announced some resolutions reached by the party which included the zoning of the 2023 governorship seat.

Okere directed all aspirants from the aforementioned zones to “liaise with the party for presentation to the State Elders Committee between today 26th March 2022 and latest 30th March 2022.”

THE WHISTLER understands that the party’s decision is in compliance with the Abia Charter of Equity which was drawn up by the forebearers of Abia to balance power sharing in the state and ensure equity.

Particularly, there have been calls that for the sake of justice and equity, the governorship position should rotate back to Abia North in 2023.

The PDP’s decision to adhere to this arrangement may have put a stop to the ambition of Senator Abaribe, who hails from the Abia South Senatorial district.

Abaribe, who has represented the senatorial district since 2007, declared his interest in the office in December 2021.

The Senate Minority Leader was the only political figure from South East who openly identified with the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in 2017 when he stood as surety for the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

His affiliation with IPOB, which has been accused of terrorizing residents of the South East, resulted in his arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) on June 22, 2018 and spent five days in detention of the state service.

Abaribe had unsuccessfully aspired for the office in 2003 under the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

Prior to this, he had served as Deputy Governor to Orji Uzor Kalu and was impeached twice by the state’s House of Assembly. A third attempt to impeach him in 2003 had forced him to resign his office.