The Social Democratic Party, SDP, has said the candidacy of Sir Okey
Ezeh in Imo State is not under any form of controversy, adding that the
process that led to the emergence of Sir Ezeh is in tandem with the
provisions of the Party’s guidelines for the nomination of candidates.
This
clarification was made by a National Leader in the Party who spoke to
our correspondent while reacting to a misleading headline in soft-sell
Owerri-based newspaper which drew an imaginary battlefield and alleged
that the governorship ticket of the SDP in Imo is in dispute.
“You
can take my word to the bank: Okey Ezeh became our candidate through a
widely acknowledged transparent process. First, the Imo State Chapter of
the Party failed to organise a direct primary election as the
guidelines stipulated. They gathered at a hotel in Owerri and
stage-managed something very absurd. We cancelled that particular
exercise because it was an aberration and opted for the second
alternative in the guidelines, which is consensus. We invited Okey Ezeh
and three others who then purchased our nomination forms. We screened
and eventually Okey Ezeh defeated the three others to become the
consensus candidate of the Party in Imo State,” he narrated.
He
further stated that, “We are aware that there are some persons within
the Party who are sponsored by the PDP to distract Okey Ezeh. This is
the height of inferiority complex. They should stop hiding behind anyone
to distract our candidate. If they think they are popular, let them
meet us at the polls. Anyone who is pretending to be in court against
the SDP or against Okey Ezeh is just a mole planted by the PDP to
distract us, and at the appropriate time we shall deal with the person
decisively.”
In a similar reaction, the Imo State Publicity
Secretary of the Party, Chilos Godsent, has issued a stern warning to
all those who are dividing the Party to stop forthwith. He went ahead to
ban members of the Party from writing anything misleading about the
state of affairs in the party, even as he decried the activities of some
persons who are sponsored by the opposition to scuttle the electoral
chances of the Party.
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