By Agbo Amuche,Abakaliki
The National vice chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP South-East zone Chief Ali Odefa has today said that the party is ready to reclaim Ebonyi state come 2023.
Chief Odefa who spoke during an enlarged stakeholders meeting involving all the serving National Assembly members of the party, state caretaker committees, Local Government and ward executives among others held at Salt Lake Hotel in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.
He stated that by June 2022,the party would conduct its primary ahead of the general election, maintaining that everybody would be accorded a level playground to contest.
According to him:” Whether you are my friend or an alien, you will go to the field and test your popularity, I told them that in Anambra. You are a billionaire and you are my friend, the money is not an issue now, you must test your popularity in the grass root, we want the party to reclaim the state come 2023.
“The era of intimidation has gone, police cannot arrest us, we will resist all this dictatorial tendencies in them and we will continue to uphold the principle and core value of our party. he stated
In a communique issued at the end of the meeting and read by the Acting Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Fred Udeogu, called on governor David Umahi to facilitate the peaceful surrender of it’s party Secretariat, following the withdrawal and resignation of Barrister Onyekachi Nwebonyi from the party.
The communique reads:” Umahi’s defection from the party has received backlash from members at the National Assembly, which explained why none of them defected along with him ,thereby, necessitating the governor’s violent approach against the PDP faithfuls in the state.
“Barrister Onyekachi Nwebonyi being the governor’s political stooge who was planted to destroy the party in the state has left”
“Governor Umahi commissioned Barrister Onyekachi Nwebonyi, his political hireling and surrogate, to undermine the activities of our Party but today we are happy and pleased to note that, we welcome the development which is the withrawal and resignation of Barrister Onyekachi Nwebonyi from the PDP, thereby, bringing to an end all the agitations which had, hitherto, created problems to our party and it’s teeming members in Ebonyi state”
“From now onwards, we have taken back our party and, we, hereby, pledged to ensure that all our teeming members are united to work assiduously for victory come 2023. We, hereby, plead with governor Umahi to facilitate the peaceful surrender of our party Secretariat, which his hirelings have attempted to occupy and vandalized, including as at last night, the carting away of one of the major generators set in the party Secretariat by the governor’s hirelings. It further said
“The party, also urged the governor to work towards restoring peace in the state while describing the senseless communal killings and destructions of properties ongoing in some parts of the state as condemnable and unacceptable”
“Let me also use this opportunity to urge governor Umahi to rethink the violence that has been unleashed on the state since his defection, the spate of politically motivated Killings across the state is condemnable and unacceptable, we urge the governor to take step and clampdown this unwarranted violence for the interest of our dear state” the statement added.