Abia PDP in fresh controversy over guber candidate’s running mate. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) branch in Abia State has criticized Eze Chikamnayo, the state’s commissioner for information and strategy, for being conceited and desperate.
As instructed by the PDP’s National Working Committee, or NWC, Sir Okey Ahaiwe’s official running partner is Barr Okey Philip Igwe, the party has declared. Sir Okey Ahaiwe is the party’s candidate for governor.
The Vice Chairman of Abia North and Acting Publicity Secretary, Elder Ama Abraham, claimed in a statement made available to DAILY POST that the Information Commissioner had used abusive language when addressing some issues in the Abia PDP, particularly those that related to Sir Okey Ahaiwe’s running mate.
Abraham made his comment in response to the uproar caused by the removal of Dr. Jasper Uche, who up until this point had been Sir Okey Ahaiwe’s running companion.
During the Abia guber election on March 11, the Abia PDP Media Roundtable had claimed that Uche was still the party’s legitimate Deputy Governorship candidate.
The group’s statement, headed “Dr. Jasper Uche Still On The Ballot,” advised the public to dismiss the news release made by Amah Abraham since, according to the statement, it was the vice chairman/publicity secretary’s perspective.
Among other things, the letter asked the people to disregard the rumor that Dr. Jasper Uche, the PDP’s deputy governorship candidate in Abia State, had been removed.
“Ama Abraham’s unauthorized press interview was the result of a hireling who went above and beyond what was required of him. In this instance, his opinions do not accurately reflect the position of the party leadership in the State.
The Bayelsa case is quite instructive. “The PDP in Abia cannot swallow its vomit by involving someone with a ‘poison item’ of dual citizenship on its ballot.”
Nevertheless, the Abia PDP cautioned Chikamnayo against assuming personal authority over those that belonged to the State PDP.
The statement from Amah Abraham stated:
“The Abia PDP has been made aware of two press releases issued by Eze Chikamnayo, the Abia State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, who spoke in his capacity as the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of the Abia State PDP Campaign Council, a position that is obviously subordinate to the position of the State Publicity Secretary of the Party.
“In the aforementioned press releases, Eze Chikamnayo gave himself the authority to speak on behalf of the Abia PDP, which is inaccurate in every way possible. Unless specifically ordered differently, he is not authorized to speak on behalf of the Party, and the situation at hand is obviously one that only the Party is qualified to handle.
“The Party will not utilize the crude language used by Eze Chikamnayo to handle a matter that is not only outside the scope of his job, but one about which he should have sought clarification from the Party prior to his uncalled-for, unguarded outburst and customary plunge into insults.
“Unfortunately, he failed to solve the issue at hand based on the existing regulations and instead set off on a voyage in futility in his frantic attempt to fool the gullible people.
“As a media professional, as Eze Chikamnayo professes to be, he was expected to declare in the strongest possible terms that the letter the NWC sent outlining its position on the running mate was either fabricated or fraudulent, which would have justified his categorical disregard of the letter. He was unable to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the letter, which was legally signed by the Party’s National Chairman and National Secretary, was not genuine; instead, he chose an unprofessional course that resulted to insults directed at the Party spokesman.
“As a professional lawyer, one would have anticipated that Eze Chikamnayo would name legal sources to support his claims, but instead, he made only hazy allusions and sidestepped the issue without offering any concrete evidence. That is nothing more than a naked display of desperation, and the Party would not put up with such nonsense coming from a government agent.
“For the sake of clarity, it has become necessary to state the facts clearly in order to inform the PDP members of the genuine situation of Sir Okey Ahiwe’s running partner.
“The National Working Committee, NWC, of the Party is in charge of submitting candidate names to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not the State Working Committee, SWC, of the PDP.
“In this case, the NWC of the Party in its wisdom drafted a letter explaining plainly that it had submitted Jasper Uche’s name in error as Okey Ahiwe’s running mate and in the same letter indicated that Phillip Okey Igwe continues to be Okey Ahiwe’s genuine running companion. That is the situation as it stands, and no amount of pleading or arm-twisting will change it.
Since its establishment two years ago, the Abia PDP State Working Committee, or SWC, has worked in an amicable manner with the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), and it has no plans to usurp or even seek to usurp the NWC’s duties or authority.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no disarray in the Abia PDP as has been implied in certain areas and fostered by some rumor mongers who possibly have grudges against anyone inside the Party.
“Eze Chikamnayo accused Abraham Amah of looking into a case that is still pending, but he ultimately referred to the PDP guber candidate’s running partner as a “poison object” with dual citizenship without providing any evidence from a court with appropriate authority.
He signed off one of his press releases with the name of an unidentified media roundtable to emphasize his malice and desperation since he had nothing else to say except to express his jealously and malice against the real running mate of the Party’s guber candidate.
The following was stated:
“Once more, the Abia PDP insists that there is no doubt inside the Party as to who would be the deputy governorship candidate on Saturday, March 11.
It is surprising that Eze Chikamnayo, who holds the title of Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the 2023 Abia PDP Campaign Council, has never issued a single press release, press statement, or press conference to support the Party’s candidates. Instead, he jumps into the fray to make claims that aren’t supported by any evidence.
In order to help our gubernatorial candidate, Sir Okey Ahiwe, and his running partner, Barr. Phillip Okey Igwe, win the March 11 governorship election, we are requesting that members of the Abia PDP ignore the childish tantrums of Eze Chikamnayo.
According to DAILY POST, Barr Okey Philip Igwe, the running mate of the late Prof. Uche Ikonne, had taken the Abia State PDP chapter to court before the PDP NWC’s instruction, disputing his substitution as Okey Ahaiwe’s running partner.
