By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Anambra State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, has dismissed insinuations that he was sponsored to contest the primary election of the party.

He insisted that he ran as an independent candidate because he had the money to prosecute his election.

According to him, his independence was part of the reason he was able to pick his running mate without a third party influence.

Speaking on the recent decamping of few of his contestants to other political parties, the PDP flag bearer said: “Anyone that left PDP left because they wanted to leave, not because I emerged the party’s candidate.”

Ozigbo, who addressed journalists in Awka said that he knew before the party primary that the problem of PDP in Anambra State was that after similar exercises in the past, losers resort to anti-party activities.

He said that with that knowledge, he took out time to pay homage to the losers and chieftains of the party after he won the primary election.

He added: “Despite that move, the party still recorded about 20 court cases ranging from those who claimed that some votes were missing to those who claimed that the election was not properly conducted.

“If any of the governorship aspirants on the platform of PDP is leaving the party, it is not for lack of attention or lack of consultation but the person has made up his mind to leave.

“After the primary election, I paid homage to all of them including Chief Chris Uba who pledged before the primaries that he will support any candidate that emerged from the South.”

Ozigbo announced that his campaign would be centred on youths and women, explaining that that was why he chose a woman, in the person of Mrs Azuka Enemuo, as his running mate.