By Ifeoma Ejiofor
The Valentine Ozigbo Campaign Organisation, on Saturday, July 17, 2021, assured the people of Anambra State that the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate in the November 6 election, Mr Valentine Ozigbo, is still in the governorship race.
In a statement to the press, signed by Aziza Uko, the Media Adviser of the Valentine Ozigbo Campaign Organisation, she noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) reliance on a court order in not publishing the name of the PDP candidate, Mr Valentine Ozigbo, was “a matter of procedure and temporary”.
However, Uko said the PDP had mobilised men and resources to ensure the said order is vacated to enable INEC to update its records with the name of Mr Valentine Ozigbo as the gubernatorial candidate for Anambra State as has been forwarded to the national electoral body by the PDP.
“It is on record that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had the most credible party primary ahead of the November 6 Anambra State governorship election,” the statement read.
“Most of the aspirants, present at the primary venue on June 26, 2021, spontaneously congratulated Ozigbo once he was declared the winner. They went on to formally publish their congratulations to him as the elected candidate of the party.
“The development, in which aspirants congratulate the elected candidate, is novel in Anambra party politics. It attests to the acceptability of the candidacy of Valentine Ozigbo and the transparency of the process from which he emerged.
“We acknowledge that Mr Ozigbo is still reaching out in dialogue to few aspirants who feel aggrieved. At the end of the process, the PDP will emerge as one family under one big umbrella that accommodates everyone.
“We confirm that the PDP has forwarded only the name of Mr Valentine Ozigbo as its candidate for the 2021 Governorship Election to INEC. We also confirm that he had submitted his credentials to INEC and that all the procedural necessities that should follow before INEC’s publication of the list of candidates had been completed,” Aziza disclosed.
According to Uko, “Mr Valentine Ozigbo appreciates the interests of his teeming supporters and Ndi Anambra as a whole over the current situation. He calls on them to keep faith with the process as all is under control.”
She also assured that “the issues will be resolved in no time and open the space for a one-of-a-kind campaign on issues that were top on the minds of Ndi Anambra with regards to their yearnings for transformational leadership that will usher in a new era of peace and progress to the
State.”
Valentine Ozigbo has been identified by an influential opinion leader as “Anambra’s brightest chance” to rewrite the story of the southeastern state in the upcoming elections.
A multiple-award-winning global CEO, Ozigbo resigned from his position as the Group CEO and President of Transcorp Plc in March 2020 to dedicate the next chapter of his life to serving his people. His quest to “revolutionise statecraft” and “restore the lost glory of Anambra” ignited the Ka Anambra Chawapu Movement, which is the largest, most inclusive, and most acceptable campaign organisation leading into the November poll.