THE governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in last year’s election in Anambra State, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo has withdrawn from the party’s primaries.
Ozigbo joined the race and was seen as the frontrunner before his sudden withdrawal.
His withdrawal, however, might not be unconnected with the crisis rocking the party in Anambra State, which has made it difficult to have elected state executive and the ad – hoc delegates that would participate in the primaries to elect candidates of the party in the 2023 general elections.
In a statement, Ozigbo said “I refuse to dignify the rot of the process by participating in Anambra South Senatorial primary. Evil comes in many colours. In PDP Anambra, its primary colour is Chris Uba. The secondary colours are in the National Working Committee of the party that enabled him and his cohorts.
“I am afraid that the entire process leading up to preparing the PDP Anambra chapter for the primary is fundamentally flawed and I will not dignify this mockery of due process and blatant disregard for decency with my continued participation.
“Yesterday, I formally wrote to the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyorchia Ayu, of my withdrawal from contesting the primary for the ticket for the senatorial seat of Anambra South.
“The actions of Chris Uba and the NWC-appointed minions have put the candidacy of many of our party faithfuls in legal jeopardy!
“We have, for too long, lost sight of what’s important. We have, as a party in Anambra State, focused on the ego and the power play that creates characters like Chris Uba in our midst.
“The problems we face cannot be solved by acquiescing to the discredited notion that regards every long-standing member of the PDP as a “leader” or “stakeholder”. It is time we define what leadership means to us in the PDP.
“I believe that leaders should be determined not by age or years in the party but by their character that upholds the principles of justice, fairness, and transparency; by their contribution, which builds up our party; and by their political ideology of inclusiveness, development, and growth.
“Our real problem lies in the blatant disregard for the rule of law. Instead of joining Chris Uba’s devious game of musical chairs, we ought instead to focus on how to clean house and restoring peace, order, and unity to the PDP.
“It is imperative that the PDP, which Dr Ayu leads, makes this our focus if we wish to remain a party of the people in Anambra and take power at the centre in 2023; or else, we are in for a rude awakening.
“Too many of our members have had their investments in the party destroyed and their anger boils over. Soon there may be no meaningful PDP in Anambra state.
“How is it that one aspirant, an interested party in the process for the congress, takes over the process by supplying the names of his domestic staff and allies to be on the panel coming to Anambra to conduct the ad- hoc Congress?
Credit: Vanguard News Nigeria