Ideato Federal Constituency in Imo state was thrown into unusual activeness on Sunday, May 15, 2022, as thousands of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faithful trooped out in solidarity to welcome home the spokesman of opposition parties, Ikenga Ugochinyere, after his aborted disqualification from the House of Representatives race.
Dozens of party delegates also stormed the Sam Mbakwe International Airport in solidarity with Ugochinyere ahead of the party primaries this weekend.
The House of Representatives aspirant doled cash in his honour, and gave away other items worth over 40 million naira to the 27 wards of the Ideato North and South at the reception.
The items included laptops, printers, handsets and 5000 PDP membership cards. He said the items were part of his contribution towards rebuilding the party in the Constituency.
Addressing the crowd, Ugochinyere urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders especially the party delegates at the forthcoming party primaries in Ideato North and South to be vigilant and resist any attempt by undemocratic elements to hijack the exercise this weekend.
He described his purported disqualification from the race as another joke taken too far, adding that any attempt again by anybody no matter how highly placed to either falsify or hijack the party primary this weekend will meet the red eye of his supporters .
Ugochinyere at his formal reception at St John’s Anglican Church Osina told his highly elated supporters especially the delegates to vehemently resist and deal with anybody who might wish to steal, run away or falsify result sheets again in the coming primary election.
According to him, “the PDP does not belong to a single individual, so do not allow anybody to intimidate you in a party you have laboured for. There will be no more name-dropping and those still hanging around Abuja stealing and falsifying results, will no longer have their way.”
He however commended the bold steps taken by the National Chairman of PDP Senator Iyorchia Ayu to right the wrong perpetuated by some undemocratic elements in the state.
He assured both the party leadership and his supporters that he was well prepared to lead the party to victory in the general election if elected as the party flag bearer this weekend.
He attributed the lingering security challenge in the South-East to the perceived sense of marginalization by the people and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to adopt the political option and enter into dialogue with the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) and leaders of the South-East to find lasting solution to the security problem plaguing the region, just as the Federal Government had done with the Niger Delta Militants and the Boko Haram terrorists.
Ugochinyere commended Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra state, for the courage to visit the detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in detention and enjoined other governors of the South-East to emulate his example.
