The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday lampooned the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) over what it termed an embarrassing resort to calling out paid touts and street urchins to attempt and/or orchestrate a cosmetic protest in Abia State against the verdicts of election tribunals.
In a press statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, the PDP said it is indeed a crass display of shameful desperation that APGA, which was roundly defeated in duly conducted elections as well as in election tribunals, would resort to attempting an imaginary protest.
The statement reads, “For record purposes, the PDP wishes to remind APGA that our candidates in national and state elections outrightly defeated them and we have no apologies for that. In the same vein, APGA need not be told that in the governorship election, they were comprehensively vanquished by the PDP candidate, who is by all measures, the true choice of the people.
“Furthermore, we wish to inform APGA leaders that their attempt to go into an alliance with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and pledge an unholy mortgage of Abia state treasury and the identity of their party to Bourdillon is inoperable, since the image and identity of APGA has since been lost.
“May we remind APGA that its main identity, after the passage of their founder, Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu, has been the former governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, who is now a committed member of the PDP.
“Nigerians are aware that the weight, strength and financial muscle of APGA was concentrated in Anambra Central Senatorial zone in the elections, only for their candidate, their former National Chairman, (Chief Victor Umeh) to be completely overwhelmed, outmatched, dazed and roundly defeated by the PDP candidate.
“The people of the South East have in many ways, including the 2015 general elections, shown their support and faith in the PDP. Even in Imo state, the only state which was fraudulently taken from the PDP in the zone, the citizens have been groaning and hoping that the judiciary, as the last hope of the common man, would recover their mandate stolen at the governorship election.
“We therefore wish to inform APGA that no amount of blackmail, threats and protest by paid touts and street urchins will override the tenets and principles of democracy; the wishes and aspirations of the people and the sanctity of the judicial process.
“On this note, the national leadership of the PDP assures that it is solidly behind the governor, government and people of Abia state in our electoral feats. We wish to place on record that the Governor of Abia state, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, since taking office on May 29, has distinguished himself as one of the best governors in Nigeria as evidenced in his quality of governance; the acceleration of infrastructural development in the state, especially the spirited efforts towards the re-establishment of Aba as one of the foremost commercial hubs of the nation.
“Finally, the national leadership urges all members of the PDP in Abia state and the nation in general to remain steadfast in their commitment towards the party, democracy, unity and stability of the nation, in line with our manifesto and the visions of the founding fathers of our great
party”.
