By CHARLES IWUOHA

The lingering crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ebonyi State chapter, took a different dimension at the weekend, as the two governorship “candidates” that emerged during the party’s primaries held on May 28 and 29, 2022 and on June 4 and 5, 2022, respectively, traded words as to who was the authentic candidate of the party for the 2023 general election.

Senator Obinna Ogba, whose governorship primary election was conducted on June 4 and 5, 2022, told newsmen in Abakaliki that he remained the authentic governorship candidate of the party as he has received the party’s Certificate of Return.

He assured his rival, Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, that he was going to defeat him in court, against all odds.

But in a quick reaction, the Director of Media & Publicity of AnyiChuks Campaign Organization, Chief Abia Onyike, called on Senator Ogba to stop deceiving the general public regarding his current status after the party’s primary election.

According to Ogba, “Certificate of Return has been given to me and the result of our primary election has been accepted by the PDP in Abuja. We have appealed the court case. Nigeria is not a banana republic.”

“Court doesn’t belong to anyone but to everybody. They will look at it and know who is at fault. Nobody can take the mandate of our people through the backyard. I am happy with the PDP delegates who expressed their choice of my person.

“They way I defeated him in practical terms is the same way I will defeat him in court. I don’t believe in hearsay or gossip. Ebonyi people shouldn’t be fooled. I am the candidate of PDP for Ebonyi State for the 2023 general election. The case in court is a pre-election matter. It will get to the Supreme Court,” Ogba saiid.

However, in a statement titled “The time for Truth and Reconciliation has come,” Onyike further described “the parallel Primaries conducted on the 4th and 5th of June, as an anti-democratic intervention by some powerful forces who were hell-bent on reversing the popular will of the people.”

Onyike disclosed that “on the 10th of June, 2022, the National body of the party obeyed the Court Order by forwarding the names of all the candidates elected during the legitimate Primaries of 28 and 29 June, 2022 to INEC and the processing of their forms have commenced.”

The statement by Onyike reads: “The ruling of the Federal High Court in Abakaliki on 7th June, 2022 restoring the authenticity of the first primaries which elected Dr. Odi was a historic confirmation of the democratic will of Ebonyi PDP cadres as against the dictatorship and imposition by a few Godfathers.

“The PDP governorship candidate today is Dr Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odi. He won the primary election conducted by the PDP on 28 and 29 of May, 2022.

“The 3-man Delegates List used for the primary election was the outcome of the State PDP Congress of 7th May, 2022 which was eventually recognised by the PDP National Working Committee (NWC).

“That primary election was properly authorized by the PDP NWC and was peacefully conducted with the INEC monitoring the exercise, in line with the Electoral Guidelines and the 2022 Electoral Act. An attempt by the opposition to cancel the successfully conducted primary election suffered a set-back.

“The PDP Governorship Candidate in the person of Dr Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii is willing and ready to provide leadership and to reconcile the members of the party after the divisions arising from the internal power struggle.

“We appeal to the leaders and members of our great party in the state to embrace the path of maturity and reconciliation at this moment to enable us focus on the common enemy as we gradually approach the 2023 general elections.

“We should quickly recover from the fallouts of the primary elections and close ranks in the interest of our people and the future of the state.”