Anambra 2021: PDP Candidate Reacts To INEC Disqualification

“We acknowledge that Mr. Ozigbo is still reaching out in dialogue to few aspirants who feel aggrieved.”

A candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 6 Governorship Election, Anambra State, Valentine Ozigbo, has reacted to his disqualification by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from participating in the governorship poll.

EKO HOT BLOG had earlier reported that the name of Ozigbo, the PDP candidate, was excluded from the list of candidates for the Anambra Governorship Election which was published by INEC on Friday.

INEC had cited a court order for the exclusion of Ozigbo from the candidates’ list.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that while Ozigbo emerged as the candidate of the party in a primary election conducted by the mainstream of the PDP on June 26, 2021, a faction of the party elected Dr. Ugochukwu Uba as its candidate for the poll thereby necessitate litigation about the exercise.

However, Ozigbo while reacting to the INEC publication via a statement by his media aide, Aziza Uko, on Saturday, described the exclusion of PDP from the list as “temporary”.

He further noted that INEC’s reliance on a court order in not publishing his name as a candidate in the race was “a matter of procedure and temporary”.

The statement read, “It is on record that the Peoples Democratic Party had the most credible party primary ahead of the November 6 Anambra State governorship election.

“Most of the aspirants, present at the primary venue on June 26, 2021, spontaneously congratulated Ozigbo once he was declared the winner. They went on to formally publish their congratulations to him as the elected candidate of the party.

“The development, in which aspirants congratulate the elected candidate, is novel in Anambra party politics. It attests to the acceptability of the candidacy of Valentine Ozigbo and the transparency of the process from which he emerged.

“We acknowledge that Mr. Ozigbo is still reaching out in dialogue to few aspirants who feel aggrieved. At the end of the process, the PDP will emerge as one family under one big umbrella that accommodates everyone.

“We confirm that the PDP has forwarded only the name of Mr. Valentine Ozigbo as its candidate for the 2021 Governorship Election to INEC. We also confirm that he had submitted his credentials to INEC and that all the procedural necessities that should follow before INEC’s publication of the list of candidates had been completed,” Ozigbo stated.

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