Abakaliki—Governor
David Umahi of Ebonyi State has said Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has no
reason to rig any election in the state.
Umahi, at the grand finale of the
first Ekubaraoha Urban Day celebration in Abakaliki on Saturday, restated that
PDP was the party to beat in the state.
according to vanguardngr, He spoke
against the backdrop of insinuations in some quarters, especially the
opposition, that he appointed Senior Technical Assistants and Technical
Assistants to rig elections. He said: “Honestly, we made no mistake in
appointing our TAs and STAs. They have become the backbone of our
administration.
When we appointed them, somebody said we appointed them to rig
elections. We have no reason to rig election because we compete with nobody for
we came in the name of the Lord.”
Umahi,
according a statement, yesterday, by his Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya,
ordered that all the councillorship aspirants disqualified without cogent
reason should be rescreened to provide a level playing field for all
contestants.
The governor also ordered that male aspirants vying for
councillorship position in wards designated as female wards should be allowed
to stand for election to ensure peace and harmony at the grassroots level.
He
warned against imposition of candidates
on the people, adding that the electorate should be allowed to choose
candidates of their choice.
The governor who told the gathering that comprised
members town unions residing in the
state capital and clerics that his wife (Rachel) and himself had no candidates for the April 22 Local
Government polls, emphasized that the democratic culture where the
popular candidate wins should be maintained.
“There is no imposition. There is
no anarchy. We want the best from the villagers to represent us at the ward
level and let me announce and warn, my wife has no candidate; myself have no
candidate and so if two of us have no candidate, nobody will have any preferred
candidate. Everybody must go and stand election. If you’re popular and
acceptable to the people you should emerge.”
He directed that stakeholders
should go to other senatorial zones to monitor the primary election and advised
the security agents to be careful in wards where there are more than one
candidate standing for election.” Governor Umahi, who said he had accepted to run in 2019, promised to complete the dualization of
the Ezzamgbo-Abakaliki section of the
Enugu-Abakaliki expressway
and the Abakaliki-Afikpo road
without delay if he wins.
*Vanguardngr*
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