We’ll participate in governorship election, Anambra PDP insists

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra says despite not being on the current governorship candidates’ list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the party will participate in the election.

Augustine Okeke, publicity secretary of the PDP caretaker committee in Anambra, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

The Anambra chapter of the PDP has been involved in internal crisis, which resulted in two candidates emerging as governorship candidates for the party.

Valentine Ozigbo, former chief executive officer of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, had emerged the standard-bearer during a primary organised by the PDP national working committee (NWC), while Ugochukwu Uba, former senator representing Anambra south, had emerged winner of the primary election organised by another faction.

INEC had, on Friday, published the list of qualified aspirants for the governorship election slated to hold on November 6, with no candidate for the PDP — the commission had said the decision was based on a court order.

But Okeke urged supporters to remain calm, noting that steps will be taken to ensure that the party is represented in the election.

“The considerable public interest, commentaries and concerns shown by Nigerians who are worried about the non-inclusion of a candidate for PDP in the list is a testament to the acceptance of the PDP,” NAN quoted him to have said.

“It shows that the PDP is the party that Nigerians and Anambra people implicitly and absolutely trust to deliver good governance for Anambra people.

“It does did not imply that PDP will not participate in the election.

“Recall that faced with multiple litigations during the Imo north senatorial by-election, INEC took a similar stance by not including a name for the APC in the list of candidates.”

Also speaking on the development in a statement issued on Saturday by Aziza Uko, media adviser to the Valentine Ozigbo campaign organisation, the group said its aspirant is still in the governorship race.

“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 reads.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education, has said candidates can only be replaced based on court order, as the period given to political parties for the submission of aspirants’ names elapsed on July 9.