By Turning Point Reporters
A business mogul, Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, has won the factional governorship primary of Ebonyi Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) despite the cancellation of all primaries in the state by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
The odii-led faction of the party held the governorship primary at the party Secretariat along Abakaiki/Enugu expressway with INEC officials and security agents supervising it.
Chief Odii polled a total of 349 votes to defeat his distant close rival, Hon. Christian Usulor who polled only 9 votes.
Others include Chief Sunday Opoke scored 6 votes while Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku and his elder brother, Augustine got one vote each.
Chairman of the Panel Olalekon Rotimi disclosed this in Abakaliki at the end of the primary.
But dissatisfied with the processes of the election, four gubernatorial aspirants boycotted their factional gubernatorial primaries over alleged spotted irregularities at the election venue.
The aspirants include the four-term House of Assembly member, Hon. Sylvester Ogbaga, Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku, Dr. Augustine Nwazunku and Dr. Emmanuel Eze.
According to Ogabga, “I have looked at the processes that will produce the governorship candidate of our party PDP, and I looked at it as very faulty beginning from the accreditation format, where the compound is littered with the crowd, people that are not identified and mode of entering has no direction. Anybody that answers any name goes into the Hall for the election.
“The election is not transparent, and I cannot stand anything that will produce shame, is a show of shame, is personified for this reason I will not stand this election, I will leave with my people.
“I will go back to my wife and family and I will consult my people on how to approach the irregularities.”
Dr Augustine Nwazunku in his own part said ” If you look at the environment, this place looks more or less a busy marketplace. We don’t know who is who and there is no display of the delegate lists.
“This happening is just like an aborted pregnancy. Aborted pregnancy cannot go to the delivery room, from the beginning, this election more or less didn’t hold because the delegate lists were not sighted, and the communication was not sighted also.
“We were told that the advisory committee are here but I don’t know them but I saw people wearing tags.”
Also, Dr Emmanuel Eze while addressing journalists at the party Secretariat accused the chairman of the party of withholding the delegate lists and results in sheets.
“The notification of the election was received and was duly signed by the chairman and the secretary indicated that sequence of the election. The chairman used his discretion to hold the House of Representatives and Senate primaries on the same day. Who are the delegates I don’t know, the processes will only achieve an evil result and I will not be part of it,” Eze continued.
“During the accreditation, people were just packed inside the hall and they started calling them without identification, this is murder and they have murdered democracy today.
“I will wait for the national body to give us a date for the gubernatorial election and when that happens, I will participate with my delegates unless PDP national has decided to kill PDP in Ebonyi State.
“My delegates were not accredited they were replaced by strange people. The chairman should be ashamed of himself,” he stated.
On his part, the lawmaker representing Ebonyi and Ohaukwu federal Constituency decried how the aspirants were treated.
Meanwhile, an opposing faction of the party led by the Senator representing Ebonyi Central Zone, Obinna Ogba did not participate in the primary claiming that the National Leadership of the party suspended all primaries for the party in the state.
