Ebonyi PDP Candidate Calls For Truce, Unity To Defeat Common ‘Enemy’ APC

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general election in Ebonyi State, Ifeanyi Odii, has called for truce between the warring factions in the state chapter of the party, saying only a united force can defeat the common enemy, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.

According to him, to secure the future of the state, only a united party can wrest people from the alleged failed APC government.

He stated this in a statement signed and issued by the Director of Media and Publicity, Anyi Chuks (Odii) Campaign Organisation, Chief Abia Onyike, while reacting to a press conference organised by Senator Obinna Ogba, who’s the recognised governorship candidate of the PDP leadership in Abuja.

THE WHISTLER had reported that the National Working Committee of the PDP cancelled the May 28 and 29, 2022 primary election that elected Odii as candidate.

The party claimed the primary was held against its directives and subsequently ordered a rescheduled primary election on June 5 and 6, 2022 respectively.

The rescheduled primary election brought Senator Ogba, representing Ebonyi Central Zone in the Senate, as the candidate of the party.

But Odii approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, praying that it recognises his candidature, a prayer the court granted and declared Ogba’s candidature null and void, and upheld Odii’s.

Both ‘candidates’ have been laying claims to being the candidate with Ogba displaying his Certificate of Return issued by the NWC.

Over the weekend, Ogba displayed his certificate at a press conference, telling journalists that he was the authentic governorship candidate of the party, pointing out that his opponent, Odii, was embarking on exercise in futility.

Consequently, Odii in a statement by his campaign organisation, disagreed saying, “The crisis rocking the PDP in Ebonyi State is a self-inflicted logjam which came about because of weak leadership. However, the crisis cannot persist without a resolution and the time to resolve it has come, if the party must rise to the occasion in the state as a liberation movement in the hands of Ebonyi people to rescue themselves from the atrocities of the incumbent APC government in the state.

“The resolution of the crisis could be achieved not through falsehood or telling of blatant lies to the suffering people of Ebonyi. Our teeming members and the ordinary people on the streets need to be told the true situation of things so that they can face the situation squarely and take their destiny into their own hands.

“The PDP governorship candidate today is Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii. He won the primary election conducted by the PDP on 28th and 29th of May, 2022. The three-man Delegate List used for the primary election was the outcome of the State PDP Congress of 7th May, 2022, which was eventually recognised by the PDP National Working Committee.

“That primary election was properly authorised by the PDP NWC and was peacefully conducted with the INEC monitoring the exercise in line with the Electoral Guidelines and the 2022 Electoral Act. An attempt by the opposition to cancel the successfully conducted primary election suffered a setback.

“The parallel primary conducted on the 5th and 6th of June, was an anti-democratic intervention by some powerful forces who were hell-bent on reversing the popular will of the people. The ruling of the Federal High Court in Abakaliki on 7th June, 2022 restoring the authenticity of the first primary which elected Dr Odii was a historic confirmation of the democratic will of Ebonyi PDP cadres as against the dictatorship and imposition by a few Godfathers.

“On the 10th of June, 2022, the national body of the party obeyed the Court order by forwarding the names of all the candidates elected during the legitimate primary of 28 and 29 May, 2022 to INEC and the processing of their forms have commenced.

“The PDP governorship candidate in the person of Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii is willing and ready to provide leadership and to reconcile the members of the party after the divisions arising from the internal power struggle.

“We appeal to the leaders and members of our great Party in the state to embrace the path of maturity and reconciliation at this moment to enable us focus on the common enemy as we gradually approach the 2023 general election. We should quickly recover from the fallouts of the primary elections and close ranks in the interest of our people and the future of the state.”

Amid this, Ogba has not approached the Appealed Court for redress to set aside the decision of the trial court, prompting PDP leadership and faithful to recognise Odii as the party’s governorship candidate.