Enugu governorship poll is PDP versus PDP, says Okechukwu

The Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu has said that the forthcoming governorship election in Enugu state will be contested between candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Okechukwu, who reacted to a Federal High Court, Abuja judgment that nullified the nomination of Sen Ayogu Eze as the APC governorship candidate in Enugu State, and declared Barrister George Ogara as the governorship candidate of the APC in the State, insisted that the development never gave him any goose pimples because even when Sen Eze was regarded as the APC governorship candidate in the state, he (Okechukwu) had always maintained that the contest “was for PDP and PDP” because “our party, APC never had any strong gubernatorial candidate in Enugu state.”

Daily Trust on recalls that last Tuesday, Justice Ekwo held that the primary which produced Ogara was in compliance with the party’s guidelines and the Electoral Act, and that he scored the highest in 270 wards of the 17 local government areas in the state.

The judge also restrained INEC from accepting any other name except that of Ogara for the purpose of the 2019 governorship election in the state.

However, answering questions from newsmen at Ozobulu in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, Okechukwu declared: “I ‘ve said severally that we do not have a strong candidate for the gubernatorial race in Enugu State, and that it will be PDP versus PDP at the end of the day.

“So it’s left for the people of Enugu to key in; there is a zoning formation in Enugu. So, they are all brothers; it is left for the people of Enugu to make a choice between two brothers. I don’t think we have to worry so much about that unless every other person is being sentimental on the matter.”

Asked if the court verdict will have any implication on the party’s performance during the governorship race in the state, the VON DG said: “What we are doing is to make sure that people here in Enugu and the rest of south East will vote for President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We have always known that even when the APC governorship candidate in Enugu was Senator Ayogu Eze, the governorship contest in Enugu will be PDP versus PDP. I don’t think we hinged much premium on that race in terms of realism, pragmatism and so on ; not sentiment now.”