Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, the majority leader of the Senate, has announced his withdrawal from the state governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, scheduled to hold today in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
He accused the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party of high-handedness, noting that the party has refused to create a level-playing ground for all the aspirants, hence his decision to pull out of the primary.
In a press statement personally endorsed by him, Abaribe noted that the last couple of weeks have been tortuous, as they battled to navigate the party away from a destructive path.
The essence was to create an unfettered democratic space and level playing ground for aspirants vying for all the elective offices in the state, to participate equally in the primary election.
He lamented that what they are witnessing today is a shambolic process driven by a procured court injunction and to make matters worse,cv was the use of imaginary 3-man adhoc delegates even when the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has unequivocally stated that no congress was held in Abia State, which has now put the party and her candidates in a quagmire.
According to him, participating in the primary will amount to an endorsement of illegality, which is already being challenged in the courts.
He stressed that Abians are tired of being subjected to being the butt of jokes and ridicule from their peers, who were hitherto far behind Abia State in the development index in time past, adding that this was the narrative he sought to change when his campaign took off.
Abaribe further disclosed that he committed human and material resources in his campaign for total emancipation of the state from the drudgery of imposition and godfatherism, which has kept the Abia State at the lowest ebb of infrastructural, human and material development index among the states of the federation
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He stated that the implication of this development for the party is grave and as such has put all on-going primary exercises of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state on quicksand.
He urged his supporters to remain calm and promised that his next line of action, which will be announced soon, will serve their interests.
