Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia State, has disowned a man in viral video, wearing a T-shirt of its governorship candidate, Okey Ahiwe, and calling for violence ahead of the March 18 governorship poll.
PDP in a statement by its Acting Publicity Secretary, and Vice Chairman, Abia North, Elder Abraham Amah, said the said man was on his own, and never had the mandate of the party nor its candidate to call for violence.
The ruling party claimed that the video could be a smokescreen by the opposition parties to whip up public sympathy while plotting mayhem.
The statement read: “The attention of the Abia PDP has been drawn to a video in circulation on social media wherein a man wearing the campaign T-shirt of our guber candidate, Sir Okey Ahiwe appeared to be calling some individuals to resort to violence during the forthcoming governorship election.
“The Abia PDP condemns the inciting video in its totality and hereby distances herself from such unruly behaviour. We state in very clear terms that individuals involved were acting on their own accord and not on the authority of the Party or our guber candidate, Sir Okey Ahiwe.
“The peaceful character of PDP under the leadership of our Abia State governor, His Excellency Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu and the State Chairman of the Party, Rt. Hon. Dr. Alwell Asiforo Okere, is known to all and they will not for any reason resort to such acts of desperation just to win an election.
“Similarly, our guber candidate, Sir Okey Ahiwe, a Knight of the Church, is a man of peace who will not for any reason torpedo the peace that has existed in this State after having signed a Peace Accord just last week.
“It is the peaceful disposition of the leadership in the State that has seen Abia State as one of the five most peaceful States in Nigeria and the most peaceful in the South-East even when insecurity has enveloped sister-states and turned them into theatres of war in peacetime.
“We are proud that the peace in Abia State has been sustained overtime to the point that the United States Information Service, USIS, has never included Abia State against its Travel Advisory to its citizens. It is therefore unimaginable that the Party will resort to violence to achieve victory in an election it knows clearly that it will win in a free and fair conduct.”
PDP, rather accused the opposition of instigating violence ahead of the polls.
“Unfortunately, it is the drowning opposition candidates who know that failure stares them in the face, that are in the habit of inciting the masses to take to violence because it is clear to it that the ‘Obidient’ wave that granted it a flash-in-the-pan victory in the Presidential and National Assembly election has eminently disappeared and the electorate clearly understand that Peter Obi is not contesting a governorship election.
Last week, we raised an alarm and warned about criminal plots by the Labour Party and the APC to import thugs in military uniforms to rig the elections in Abia State and subsequently called on our diligent security agencies to raise the alert levels which they did and further revelations of the dastardly acts of the opposition are coming to the fore.
The ruling party vowed never to allow any political desperado take over the state.
“The PDP and the government it serves will not allow political desperadoes who are ready to spill the blood of citizens to get to office and we call on those involved in such dastardly acts to desist from stoking tension in the State because it will certainly consume them.
“We make it clear to the opposition Parties that our guber candidate, Sir Okey Ahiwe will not be distracted in his mission to give the good people of Abia the best they deserve. Those who are planning such should better perish the thought because it will not work.”
