The Chairman, Senate Committee on Youths and Sport, Obinna Ogba (PDP, Ebonyi Central), has explained the reason the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, failed in the just concluded election. He said Atiku Abubakar should have allowed an Igbo man to fly the flag of the Party as the presidential candidate.
According to him: “The National Working Committee, NWC, deserves to be suspended, starting from the national chairman who lost his booth, ward and state. All the conspirators who gave tickets to those who understood their languages lost.
“Our presidential candidate (Atiku Abubakar) had no business contesting the election. It could have been left for an Igbo man. Even the presidential candidate (Atiku) is battling to reclaim his state.”
He said further: “The people love PDP. It is just the management of the party. No other party is as strong as the PDP. Labour Party surprised many people with their exploits, but it was [only] in the presidential election. Those in Labour Party are those who are angry at what is happening in our party,” he stated.
Ogba, a PDP governorship aspirant in Ebonyi State, noted that the 9th Senate will commence the amendment of the Electoral Act to pave way for all elections to hold in one day.
He made this known while speaking with newsmen in his hometown of Nkalagu community in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
He further said: “Before we wind up at the National Assembly, I will be among those who will support an amendment to the Electoral Act to make all elections [to] be held in one day. This will save costs and lives. If one has three or more ballot papers, he can cast his vote.”
According to him, he will use his valedictory speech to tell Nigerians some blunt truths.
“I will tell Nigerians that it will take a long time for us to be one. We should not deceive ourselves. Anyone telling you that Igbos have been forgiven after the Civil War is deceiving himself. It will take us a lot of time to speak our minds in this country, to avoid being witch-hunted or killed. There is no freedom of speech,” he stated.
In a related development, Ogba applauded the founding fathers of Ebonyi State for zoning the governorship position to Ebonyi North senatorial zone, adding that the emergence of Francis Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the governor-elect is a divine arrangement.
“Whether we like it or not, Ebonyi is our state. Political parties are just vehicles to get to our destination. The leaders of the state decided that the north zone should produce the governor. The NWC of PDP for reasons best known to them shot itself in the foot. It decided to give the ticket to the incumbent governor’s cousin.”
He urged the people of the state to give maximum support to the incoming government, saying of Francis Nwifuru: “He is a young man with potential. Administrations are different. It is not easy to preside over the House of Assembly for eight years. Nwifuru has got experience. He knows the state in and out.”
Senator Ogba called on the governor-elect to focus more on the empowerment of the masses to alleviate poverty in the state.
