PDP Knocks Edeoga, Abure over Comments on 2023 Guber Poll

*Says LP candidate lacks the character, capacity to be governor

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Labour Party and its candidate in the 2023 governorship election in Enugu State, Chijioke Edeoga, to come to terms with what it described as their predictable loss in the election, saying Edeoga lacked the character and capacity to be governor.

The PDP accused Edeoga of orchestrating a most divisive and slanderous campaign in the history of Enugu State, saying it was high time the defeated LP candidate came to terms with his loss and also ended a propaganda of falsehood that did him no good in the 2023 gubernatorial election.

The party stated this in statement by its Enugu East Zonal Chairman, Hon. Nnamdi Nwafor.

Recall that the National Chairman of the LP, Julius Abure, had during a meeting with Edeoga at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja, Wednesday, said Edeoga had briefed him on how he was allegedly rigged out in the governorship election, and claimed that his party’s governorship candidate was one of the casualties of the 2023 election.

But reacting to the claim on Thursday, the Enugu State chapter of the PDP faulted the claim by Edeoga and Abure, saying they “lacked the honour and justification to make such fallacious claims.”

“As a party, we did not want to flog a man that has already kissed the ground; hence, our decision not to gloat over our victory after the Supreme Court judgement upholding Governor Peter Mbah’s election, knowing that Edeoga was never a match to our candidate and now governor.

“Chijioke Edeoga had no business with the Lion Building, having shown that he lacked the honour, capacity, and competence to be entrusted with such high responsibility.

“For the record, Edeoga was a signatory to a pact by PDP governorship aspirants of Enugu East extraction wherein they covenanted to support any among them endorsed by the former Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and the party.

“In Clause 5 of that pact signed during a meeting co-initiated by Edeoga himself at the palace of the Chairman of the Enugu East Senatorial Zone Traditional Rulers Council in Nike on 19th May 2022 and co-signed by the traditional rulers of the zone, Edeoga and other aspirants committed to accord ‘respect to the Governor of Enugu State and acceptance of his choice of a candidate from this group in the best interest of Enugu East Senatorial Zone and Enugu State at large’.

“However, Edeoga breached the written accord by not only going ahead to contest the primary election where he secured only nine votes against Mbah’s 709 votes, but also reneged on his personally-issued statement after the party primary in which he pledged support for Dr. Mbah as the best candidate to transform Enugu State and urged his supporters to equally do the same. Like an unfaithful bride, he eloped to the LP to take advantage of Obi’s surging popularity in the South East region”, the PDP stated.

The party accused Edeoga of resorting to whipping up sectional sentiments and launching “heinous” propaganda to de-market Mbah when he saw he could not match the PDP candidate in pedigree, competence, and capacity.

“Edeoga will go down in history as the man, who not only dishonourably reneged on written pacts and his own personally issued commitments, but also as that desperate politician, who ran the most vicious and divisive campaign that turned brothers against one another and did everything within his powers to scandalise Governor Mbah even up to the Supreme Court.

“It is therefore shameless and irresponsible of him to claim to have been rigged out after he was roundly rejected by the good people of Enugu State for his demonstrable incompetence, lack of manifesto, vision, and honour.

“He lost to Mbah in the May 25, 2022 PDP primary election and the March 18, 2023 governorship election. He equally lost at the governorship election petition tribunal, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court, which amounted to 5-0.

“But we are not surprised that his National Chairman, Abure, who is facing live suits over multiple forgery allegations and the scandalous bazaar he (allegedly) made of the LP tickets in the 2023 election cycle would dare to validate Edeoga’s fallacious claims because birds of the same feather flock together,” the party said.