Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has denied supporting Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 25 February election.
He was reacting to a comment by the Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, that he was supporting Mr Tinubu.
Mr Ikpeazu dismissed the comment as “mere speculations and wishful thinking”.
The governor, who spoke to reporters on Tuesday while inspecting a road construction project in Aba, said “no member of G5 can railroad another member into supporting anyone against his will as suggested by Senator Kalu”.
Senator Kalu, in an interview with Channels TV on Monday, said: “Tinubu is well liked by the north and is from the South-west and is going to get a (sizeable) vote in Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Anambra and Enugu. And he’s going to have the support of Governor Wike of Rivers State, so we’re on track.
“My governor here, Okezie Ikpeazu, will also support Tinubu. My senatorial district is going to give Tinubu the vote, the puncher to give the 34, 35 per cent to be on the ballot,” he said.
Governor Ikpeazu said Senator Kalu’s statement was “the usual political speculation associated with the (election) season”.
In an earlier statement, the Director of Strategic Engagement, Abia State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council, John Kalu, said there was no truth in Senator Kalu’s statement.
Atiku-Okowa AD
He said there were similar mischievous speculations around Mr Ikpeazu in the run up to the 2019 general elections because of the governor’s accommodation of different political views and orientations.
“Governor Ikpeazu is a democrat and even as he frowns at some decisions of his party, the PDP, he remains a committed member of the PDP family.
“Ikpeazu is in touch with Abians and will not derail from the decision of a majority of his people which does not presently incline towards APC or its presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu,” Mr Kalu, the PDP chieftain, said, adding that the APC in Abia South District had collapsed its structures into the PDP during the party (PDP) rally at Ahiaba, Obingwa Local Government Area.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Ikpeazu has not endorsed Tinubu and will not endorse him because he is a leader that is guided by the feelings of his people.
