“PDP May Lose Enugu Gubernatorial Elections in 2023”
By Concerned Enugu Citizens in Diaspora (CE-CID)
It is very clear that Elections in this era is no longer won on the ballot box alone. The winner may be determined by court system. In 2007, the PDP ticket for governorship in Enugu state was disrupted when the running mate of Sullivan was arrested by the EFCC and ultimately, his ticket was taken from him. It caused a brief political crisis and a scramble for replacement which was not the first choice of the party. With a resurgent federal government backed opposition party, it would be a major disruption if the 2007 incident repeats itself and this time, on Enugu governorship candidate.
We have uncovered a sinister plot by the opposition party to frustrate and create political chaos in the PDP by harassing any candidate with a corruption tag that emerges from the PDP. The publication by Sahara reporters accusing a number of PDP aspirants in Enugu of corruption is the first step in this grand plot. The aspirants with pending or supposedly dismissed corrupt cases mentioned by Sahara reporters are: Captain Evarest Nnaji, Peter Mbah, Prof. Hillary Edeoga, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, Senator Ike Ekweremadu Senator Gil Nnaji and Prof. Barth Nnaji. Having been tagged as aspirants with corrupt cases, should any of these mentioned candidate emerge, the opposition plot is to get them arrested using federal authorities in a move that will damage the image of the candidate and the credibility of the party’s nominee. In a worse case scenario, cause internal crisis in Enugu PDP that will be worse than what happened in 2007 when Sullivan Chime’s running mate Sam Ejiofor was humiliated by the EFCC. This surprise arrest forced the PDP to scramble for a last minute alternative denying the party their first choice. For reference purpose, the supreme Court squashed the Zamfara APC’s gubernatorial victory due to their inability to conduct an acceptable primary, based on compliance violations of electoral guidelines, the APC was disqualified. If the EFCC have its way in Enugu, a PDP candidate suspected of corruption will be frustrated through the legal and investigative process as the level of corruption which these aspirants have been accused of may not enjoy the benefit of statute of limitations in the criminal code.
To give further credence to our fears, the punch newspaper published a report on the 13th of May where the EFCC wrote to INEC and banks requesting for sensitive details on aspirants.
We call on Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to prevent this predictable crisis from happening by ensuring that the PDP produces a candidate that is corrupt free or never had a case to answer before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, because in politics perception is reality.
