Despite the court orders restraining
the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) from accepting
and listing the names of embattled
Abia State governor, Chief Theodore
Orji and his Enugu State
counterpart, Mr. Sullivan Chime as
candidates in the April governorship
election, the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) yesterday handed over
the party’s flags to them.
Before the scheduled flag-off of the
Jonathan-Sambo campaign in the
South-East yesterday, there was
tension as the party had been
stopped by high courts in Abuja,
which restrained the PDP from
submitting names of Orji and
Chime to the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) as its
candidates in the April polls.
But at exactly 3:28p.m yesterday,
the PDP acting national Chairman,
Alhaji Bello Mohammed, at the rally
held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe
Stadium, in Enugu, called up Orji
and handed him the PDP flag,
urging him to lead other candidates
in Abia to victory at the polls.
After Orji, Governor Martin Elechi
received his own flag at 3:30p.m
followed by Chime, who got his at
3:33p.m and lastly Governor Ikedi
Ohakim of Imo State by 3:37p.m.
However, the duo of Orji and
Chime are expected to return to the
court next week, where Chief Ikechi
Emenike and Chief Anayo
Onwuegbu are respectively
claiming to be the recognised
candidates of the party in Abia and
Enugu states.
The duo of Eminike and Onwuegbu
were, however, absent from the
rally that saw in attendance
President Goodluck Jonathan and
his deputy, Namadi Sambo and an
avalanche of PDP stalwarts from
across the country.
Speaking to the large crowd at the
stadium, President Jonathan
promised the Igbo that he would
see that kidnapping, which has
become rampant in the region, was
stamped out even as he would set
machinery in motion to ensure that
facilities that would enhance the
enterprising spirit of the Igbo are
put in place.
He reminded them that his
administration decided to upgrade
the Enugu airport to international
status to ensure that cargoes from
Igbo business men and women
arrive very close to them.
Similarly, he said they are in the
upbeat in the dredging of the River
Niger, just as a dry port would be
built in Aba for easy access to Igbo
traders.
Jonathan also promised that the
completion of the Second Niger
Bridge would be of utmost priority
to his administration if they return in
the second dispensation.
He saluted the entrepreneurial skill of
the Igbo, thanking them for taking
him as one of their own.
Though he said they had not come
to campaign, he urged the Igbo to
vote for him in the April 9 polls,
saying that he believed in the Igbo
as they always keep to their
promises.
According to him, the coming out
of all the traditional rulers from the
various states of the region to
welcome him, which was the first
of its kind since he started his
campaign, was a clear signal of his
acceptance in the region.
In his welcome address, Governor
Chime told Jonathan that he had not
come to Enugu to campaign, but to
identify with his people who are
committed to returning him in the
April polls.
He advised Jonathan to go to sleep
and never bother to come back
campaigning in the region, as the....
November 12, 2009, 07:54:30 AM