Following the death of its candidate for the 2023 Governorship election in Abia State Prof. Uche Ikonne, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will conduct another primary election to produce a new candidate.
Already intense horse-trading has started towards narrowing down on a candidate that would be acceptable to all the stakeholders in the party, including the national leadership of the party that is at loggerheads with the Group of Five (G5) Governors, led by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers.
The Wike group, now known as the Integrity Group, has Ikpeazu as one of its leading members and their major demand has been that the national chairman of the party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu must resign his position in the interest of justice and fairness before they can support the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, a demand which has been ignored.
The Iyorchia Ayu-led PDP is to conduct the primaries and submit the name of the successful candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and may see this as an opportunity to get back at the G5 Governors and Ikpeazu in particular.
Meanwhile, there are indications that Chief Sir Okey Ahiwe, the Chief of Staff to the Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, is being favored by Governor Ikpeazu to emerge as the replacement for the late Prof. Ikonne.
Ahead of the primary election on February 4, 2023, the PDP has micro zoned the ticket to Isialangwa North, the home local government of the late Prof. Ikonne, reason the Chief of Staff is considered the favourite from the pack of aspirants.
Last week Prof. Ikonne died in Abuja after a brief illness at the National Hospital Abuja to throw open the race for his ticket with just a little over a month to the polls.
New entrants, Chief Sir Okey Ahiwe, Prince C. O Enweremadu, who is the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Barr. Bob Ogu, Commissioner for Works have all obtained their nomination and expression of interest forms and are ready to test their popularity against Mayor Igboekwe and other candidates from the first primary election.
Abia State Government House sources have spoken of the Governor’s preference for any of the three cabinet members who are his trusted allies but the most favoured is Ahiwe, the Chief of Staff, who is believed to have demonstrated capacity ever since his appointment by the governor.
His appointment last year followed the resignation of erstwhile Chief of Staff to the Governor, Professor ACB Agbazuere, from Isialangwa South who had quit to pursue his political ambition. He is seeking to represent Isialangwa North/South Federal Constituency of Abia State in the House of Representatives.
Chief Ahiwe’s closeness to Governor Ikpeazu in the last one year has given him an edge over other contestants and is believed to have narrowed Ikpeazu’s choice of successor to his Chief of Staff.
Meanwhile, the first runner up from the first primary election, Mayor Igboekwe has kicked against the inclusion of new faces in this new primary election.
According to him, these new aspirants have not had time to consult with the people to know their needs and should not be part of the process.
