The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to bounce back and retake power at the centre in 2019.

Newly elected National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, said yesterday in Umuahia that the party has evolved a masterplan which would launch it back to power at the centre which it lost in the 2015 general elections.

Speaking at an inter-denominational service for the Re-dedication of Abia to God and victory thanksgiving by the State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, Sheriff said with confidence: “By the grace of Allah, nothing will deter this party from going to Aso Rock in 2019. By the time we unfold our masterplan, I am sure they (All Progressives Congress - APC) will go back to where they came from.

“We are going to Aso Rock, insha Allah, by 2019; we will get there and we will do it together. Everyone of us is ready. This my long cap is prepared to lead my colleagues and brothers to Aso Rock, insha Allah.”

Sheriff described Ikpeazu’s victory as genuine judging from the mammoth crowd that trooped out to be part of the thanksgiving service held at the Umuahia Township Stadium.

“From what I have seen in the stadium, it is clear that Dr Okezie Ikpeazu’s election was real. It is an election that God has destined. It is not the type of election that we call election by air, election by writing. This is election by the people,” he said.

Immediate past Acting National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who had delivered a speech on behalf of the National Working Committee of the party shortly before the arrival of the National Chairman, also expressed gratitude to God for granting the party victory in Abia. “We want to thank God and thank the people of Abia for the patience, for the long walk to victory. It hasn’t been easy but at the end, God has crowned all your efforts with success,” he said.

Secondus raised the alarm that Nigeria is progressively sliding into a police state, alleging that PDP leaders were being hounded by the Federal Government even as crisis is engulfing the entire country, including her economy.

“Nigeria has turned to be a police state where homes of the leaders of PDP are broken into, where PDP leaders are being invited without cause, intimidated, harassed. We need prayers,” Secondus added, saying that history would be the best judge.

Speaking on behalf of other governors who graced the ceremony, Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, said that Nigerians have seen the difference, pointing out that instead of the change they expected, what they were getting was “chance”. Fayose insisted that only true change can heal the economy of the country.

He assured that they would continue to identify with Abia, adding that Ikpeazu would deliver on his mandate.

In his speech, Ikpeazu said his victory was not about him but God’s plan for the state. “It is not about me, my brothers, it is about what God wants to do with us as chief servants of the state today and in the days ahead,” he remarked.

The governor added: “Today, I think that our victory is symbolic in many ways but I have chosen to highlight just two things. One is that our victory is not a personal victory but it is a triumph for the power of unity, it is a triumph for the power of justice, it is a triumph for our desire to be stable, it is a victory for the Abia Charter of Equity which was conceived even in my absence, that all brothers and sisters from all climes in this state can hold our hands and face our challenges and enjoy our blessings together.

“It is an end to the politics of exclusion in Abia State. And it is on this plank that we ask God Almighty, resting on the anointing that has been so lavishly showered on us by our brother and father, Rev. Uma Ukpai, on the re-dedication of our state, that from now, all our opponents will diminish so that the glory of God will become prominent in our lives in Jesus’ name.”

Ikpeazu invited the opposition to join hands with him to build a new Abia and promised to be just because God has visited him with justice.

In his sermon, President of Eastern Nigeria Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Pastor Bassey Udoh, said God has brought Abia out of captivity and has turned her wailing into victory, adding that Ikpeazu is on a mission to restore and transform Abia.

Rev Uma Ukpai, who made prophetic pronouncements concerning Abia, urged the people to pray for the governor five minutes daily. He prophesied that Abia shall witness development and industrialisation.

PDP heavyweights who stormed Umuahia for the re-dedication of Abia and the victory thanksgiving service included three other governors, namely, Chief Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta) and Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom). Deputy Governos of Ebonyi (Barr. Kelechi Igwe) and his Bayels State counterpart (Rear Admiral John Jonah) represented their governors. Former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, also graced the occasion.

•Photo shows PDP National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff.