Presidential aspirant under the platform of the Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance, APDA, Mr. Iheanacho Ezeakor has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognise him as the party’s presidential candidate for 2019 general election.

Ezeakor, who spoke to journalists in Enugu on Monday, accused the national chairman of the party, Malam Mohammed Shittu of substituting his name after he clearly emerged the party’s presidential candidate.

The aspirant, who hails from Imo State disclosed that the party’s national chairman was persuading him to accept the vice presidential ticket of the party.

According to him, “I won the APDA presidential ticket but the party chairman out of envy took it and asked me to become his vice.

“I merit the presidential ticket to contest against President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. I hold the magic wand towards defeating either of them in a free and fair poll.

“I was the sole-presidential aspirant of the party. I was also the only person screened and cleared. So, I emerged unopposed as the party’s candidate but he later submitted his name to INEC instead of mine.

“When my lawyer sent him a letter to do the needful, he invited me for reconciliation at Abuja, where he promised to send my name to the INEC the next day, only for me to receive a call that I should accept the position of his running mate. That is unacceptable.

“So, I am not ready to settle for less. The ticket was given to me by the oppressed Nigerian youths and for that it is the presidential ticket or nothing else.

“He can’t be the party’s national chairman and the flag bearer at the same time, it’s against the rules.

“Having said this, I demand clearly from the INEC that my name should not be substituted with that of anybody else. I remain the presidential candidate of the party and nobody can change it.”

Ezeakor, while describing himself as “the choice of Nigerian youths for the race,” assured that he would fight the cabal sabotaging the power sector headlong and ensure 24 hour electricity in the country.

“I want a Nigeria where good roads, tap water, other necessary amenities and basic infrastructures will be there for us all. My government will include the best people to build the economy to make Nigeria working again.

“We are not to sell this country by selling our votes. I am a youth who understand and know how and where it pains, so I will be there to fix it. They are already scared of me,” he stated.

•Sourced from a Vanguard report