The Senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said he defeated the immediate governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, in the last senatorial election because he has no visible record to convince the electorates with .
Abaribe, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for the election defeated Ikpeazu who ran under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The former majority leader of the Senate noted that the poor performance of Ikpeazu as governor of Abia State gave him (Abaribe) an edge over and above Ikpeazu.
He asserted that his record as senator from the zone was glaring and that when it was matched with that of Ikpeazu, the electorates have no alternative than to choose hime as a better candidate.
“Ikpeazu has no record and that’s why he failed the election. His record was put at the table with mine and it didn’t match mine at all. Mine is to make laws while his is to execute projects for Abia people. It was a case of his record versus mine; the two were clear and the people made a better choice.
When asked to compare the 1993 election with 2023 poll 30 years after, the senator contended that comparing the two is like comparing apples with oranges. In 1993 election which MKO Abiola was presumed to have won, was conducted manually while the 2023 election was technologically based.
“In the just concluded poll, we knew what was happening through the press of the hand phone and everything comes out. 1993 was basically option A4”, he added, pointing out today electronic system of voting, despite its manipulations, has taken over.
He believed that the fourth republic has deteriorated because of the way political leaders conducted the business of governance. According to him, at the commencement of the fourth republic, the candidates for the legislature were a bit independent because they ran their elections themselves unlike the present time when many candidates are handpicked by godfathers.
