• Warns: We Will Resist It With Everything Available To Us.

Abia North stakeholders in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have rejected the recently announced zoning of the party’s governorship ticket to both Abia North and Abia Central Senatorial districts.

In a statement today, signed on their behalf by Dr. Eme Okoro, Abia North PDP Stakeholders warned that it is “a calculated attempt and a manipulative scheme designed” to cheat Abia North Senatorial Zone.

The full press statement says: “We read with utter dismay, a statement released on Saturday, March 26, 2022 by the State Chapter of the PDP and signed by the State Party Chairman, Rt. Hon. Allwell Asiforo Okere, PhD, in which it zoned the position of Abia Governor, 2023 to Abia North and Abia Central senatorial zones.

“We unanimously and vehemently reject the purported double zoning arrangement. It is an abnormal novelty that has no place in our great Party. This is the first time that a position of such importance as the governor’s and/or any other for that matter will be zoned to two senatorial zones.

“This type of zoning is retrogressive, obnoxious, conflict-prone, high-handed, self-centered and disruptive to the system that has been running smoothly for the past 23 years.

“We see it as a calculated attempt and a manipulative scheme designed to smuggle the leadership’s preffered candidate into the Government House through the backdoor after the tenure of governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu.

“This ill-fated construct is capable of causing trouble, disunity and disharmony in Abia State that has remained peaceful through the equitable sharing of power among the three senatorial zones since the return to civil rule in 1999.

“We are amused and amazed that the leadership of our great Party could have the temerity to zone the governorship to Abia Central that handed over power to Abia South just seven years ago while Abia North has been waiting patiently for the past 15 years without worries.

“It is not only laughable but a joke taken too far which no well meaning individual or group will take seriously.

“Let the right thing be done to save our great Party and State from the devastations that follow misguided policies.

“We see this arrangement as an affront on the good people of Abia North who have always worked hard, sometimes at their own detriment to ensure that power rotates equitably among the three senatorial zones. We view it clearly as a design to deny Abia North the chance of producing the next governor, but we will resist that through all means available.

“We also disagree with the directive asking all the aspirants in Abia North and Abia Central to liaise with the Party for presentation to the State Elders Committee between March 26 and March 30, 2022 because the State Elders Committee has not been formally constituted and therefore does not have the force of law.

“We call on the leadership of our great Party, the PDP to have a rethink and do the right thing by reversing the tendentious zoning arrangement that is catastrophic in content.

“We call on the peace loving people of Abia North to remain calm and law abiding, as we are working hard to ensure that whatever belongs to Abia North does not elude us,” the statement said.