Ahead of the 2019 general election, Abia State deputy governor, Chief Ude
Oko Chukwu has said that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP)remains
the party to beat in the state and would defeat the opposition All
Progressive Grand Alliance , APGA and its counterpart, the All Progressive
Congress, (APC) in the 2019 general elections.
Oko Chukwu who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Umuahia,
explained that the PDP is the only party firmly rooted in all the 184
political wards of the state, stressing that with the return of some
chieftains of the party who defected to opposition during the 2015
election, the coast is clear for the PDP in 2019.
He described Governor Okezie Ikpeazu as a bridge builder who does not
practice politics with bitterness, and enjoined members of the opposition
to heed the governor’s call to join hands and build the state.
The deputy governor, who was a former speaker of the State Assembly, said
the PDP in Abia remains a big family, even as he described those who
defected to the opposition in 2015 as men who took ‘decision in the heat
of anger’ and made mistakes’.
“We don’t have opposition capable of dislodging the PDP in Abia state. I
don’t want to mention names but which of the parties can stand the PDP?
Abia is a PDP state; there is no other party here. In Abia, opposition
parties only exist to make up the numbers. Some people who are making
noise in other parties are members of the PDP who left as a result of the
fallout of the 2015 party primaries.
“They took their decision at the heat of anger and men who take such
decisions are bound to always make mistakes. Despite the fall out of the
primaries, PDP is still one big family with its structures intact and
firmly rooted across the 17 local government areas of the state.
“The issue of questioning the chances of the PDP in the 2019 general
elections is just asking questions for asking sake. PDP’s chances are
bright as always. In 2011, we returned 100%; Presidency, governorship, 3
senatorial, 8 House of Representatives and 24 State House of Assembly
seats. In 2019, PDP is set to repeat the feat. In 2015, we lost some
ground, but you can see that some of our members who left for the
opposition are now retracing their steps back to the party. Before the
2019 elections, some of the few former PDP members in the opposition will
return”