ABAKALIKI – (FIC Abakaliliki Report) – The Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Nweze Umahi has emerged as the Gubernatorial candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded governorship party primaries in the state. Umahi was returned un pposed with one thousand nine hundred and eighty eight (1988) valid votes cast by delegates from thirteen (13) Local Government Areas (LGA) and one hundred and seventy one (171) electoral wards in Ebony State.
In the result of the primaries announced by Joy Emodi (Senator), who is the Chairman of the Electoral Committee, a total of one thousand, nine hundred and ninety ( 1990) out of the two thousand and twenty one delegates who were accredited with two invalid votes were recorded.
The report issued recently from the Federal Information Centre in Abakaliki stated that the Electoral Committee Chairman who declared Dave Umahi the winner after votes count described the election as very orderly, peaceful and organised. She also attributed the success recorded to the efforts put in place through the little parley constituted by the national headquarters.
“We have only one candidate. His name is His Excellency, Chief Engineer Dave Nweze Umahi. Given the number of the votes cast, he got one thousand nine hundred and eighty eight votes (1988). So, he is hereby declared the winner and the gubernatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State,” she declared.
In his acceptance speech, Dave Umahi commended the leadership of the party and the electoral committee for ensuring transparency and fairness in the process.
In a related development, Dave Umahi picked his Deputy – Kelechi Igwe (Barrister) as his running mate and expressed his gratitude to the party members for allowing him to run unchallenged, despite stiff competition in other states against fellow incumbent justling for a return ticket. He promised that on actualising his second term mandate, he would pursue the goals and visions of the founding fathers of the state.
Umahi further appealed to the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to be conscious of its role as the corner stone and pillar of the Nigerian democracy reminding it to play according to the rules in the 2019 elections to safeguard the nation’s democracy. He explained that Ebonyi State is yet to adopt any candidate ahead of the party presidential primaries in Port Harcourt as the choice will be collectively made on the zonal level based on the agreement to zone the Vice President slot to the South- East Region.
“I want to pledge that we are going to do much more for the people of Ebonyi State. We are going to be more focused to reach the goals of our founding fathers. The continuous existence of this country is in the hands of the security agencies and INEC and we call on INEC to begin to be born again. That is the only way we can have this country together again after 2019,” he said.
