Three members of Valentine Ozigbo’s campaign council for the November 6 Anambra gubernatorial election have withdrawn their nominations, saying that they were not consulted before their names were included in the list.
Representative of Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Chris Azubogu and former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, faulted composition of the governorship campaign council.
Also, the immediate past state chairman of the party, Ken Emeakayi, confirmed that he had also written to register his objection to his inclusion in the campaign council without consultation and asked to be excused from the group, Guardian reports.
PDP had unveiled what it described as a high-powered campaign council comprising a former Vice Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, senators Uche Ekwunife and Stella Oduah, among others to sell Valentine Ozigbo’s candidacy.
Amid speculations about her plans to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party also named Ekwunife as Director-General of the Ozigbo campaign.
Announcing the campaign structure at a media briefing in Awka, PDP had named Dr. Winston Udeh as Co-Chairman, while Emeka Azubogu was named among the zonal directors.
But in a disclaimer, Azubogu, who was among the 12 aspirants that featured on the June 26, 2021 governorship primary, denounced his membership of the campaign council.
Renouncing publication of the list, Azubogu said he was was not consulted before the composition of campaign council, adding that he was surprised to see his name as Zonal Director of the campaign.
“It should be known that Azubogu had no input in the campaign council, not even in the zone. We wish to state that the lawmaker is currently focusing on how to sustain efforts to bridge infrastructure gap through engagements with government at all levels, especially the Federal Government.
“In view of this, Azubogu, therefore, wishes to withdraw from the Campaign Council to enable him to focus on critical engagement on the interests of his constituents,” he said.
Metuh, who disclosed that he had been concerned with his health challenges in the United Kingdom, disclosed that he merely declared that he was not consulted before he was included in the campaign council.
However, Emeakayi pleaded that his name should be removed from the list, adding: “My attention has just been drawn to a publication in which I was named as a member of the campaign council for Ihiala Council.
“I wish to state that at no time was I consulted before the appointment was made. I am a former state chairman of the PDP and still a member of the party and I will love to see my party win the governorship election in Anambra State, but I do not agree with the way and manner in which I was hijacked into the project.
“That you appear to me to be more interested in causing more division in the party in Anambra State than uniting members prior to the governorship election. You have, for reasons best known to you, sidelined and relegated key party stakeholders and grassroots influencers.”
He lamented that the party was about repeating the same mistakes that made the party to lose the governorship election in 2007, adding: “I do not see how someone will keep doing same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
