- Igwe urges supporters to maintain peace
The leadership of the Abia State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it dropped the running mate to the late Prof. Uche Ikonne, Okey Igwe, because he has dual citizenship.
The leadership, in a phone interview with our correspondent yesterday through its Publicity Secretary and Vice Chairman, Abia North PDP, Amah Abraham, said the party took the decision to avoid going into the March 11 governorship election without any candidate.
”In recent times, we have seen a lot of cases being handled by different courts, from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.
”The issues of the president and his running mate or the governor and his running mate are considered as a ticket. Once there is any defect in one of them, it affects both of them.
”Our former governorship candidate is deceased and as a result of that, a section of the Electoral Act was activated. That section requires a primary election to be conducted and conducting fresh primaries means a new candidate must emerge from the party and that was exactly what happened.
”A new candidate has emerged and one of the legal privileges of a candidate who emerges as a standard-bearer of the party either as a governor or a president is that the first privilege that accrues to the person is the right to nominate his or her running mate.
”Igwe is a dual citizen; he has served in the American Military. We cannot because of his individual interest take a risk that will make our party go into an election without a candidate.
However, Igwe in a statement yesterday to his supporters said: “My candidature subsists in accordance with the constitution and the Electoral Act.
He urged his supporters to exercise caution and understand that “their attempt to unlawfully subvert my candidature will fail.
Igwe advised his supporters to remain law-abiding and stay the course towards victory.