Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha has lashed out at Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, describing him as a bad loser for making false and untenable claims about the outcome of the primary held on Monday December 8th, 2014.
In a statement by his Campaign Organization, Rt. Hon. Ihedioha asked the party hierarchy to call the defeated aspirant to order before his anti-party activities endanger the winning chances of the PDP in the state and the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections.
The statement signed by the Director General of the campaign organization, Chief Chris Okewulonu, said Ararume could not have won the election because he failed to do adequate field work and that not even the aspirant’s resort to coercion of delegates by unwholesome means could have made him win the primary.
That statement affirmed that “Rt. Hon Emeka Ihehioha as duly announced by Hon Tengu Tsegba, Chairman Imo state PDP Governorship Primaries Electoral Committee won the keenly contested primaries conducted on Monday, 8th December, 2014” after it had embarked on a “thorough, incontrovertible primary with strict compliance to the party guidelines, reflecting on the unblemished outcome of the election.”
Accordingly, “Senator Ifeanyi Araraume did not win and could not have won the PDP governorship primaries in Imo State. His claims are therefore cheap, untenable and calculated to cause confusion in the party and create doubts in the minds of unsuspecting members of the public,” said the DG.
Part of the statement read: “Senator Araraume rejoined the party not long ago after his long sojourn in Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and later All Progressives Congress (APC) after very well moves to collapse the PDP. Prior to his exit he made fruitless efforts to destroy the party through litigation that lasted many years. Logically, a man with this kind of record does not deserve to fly the party’s flag.
“How does he expect to win a contest with Chief Emeka Ihedioha, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, a founding member of PDP, who has remained consistent, loyal and indeed committed to the party. Chief Ihedioha has been the pillar of strength for the party since losing the governorship election in 2011. He has used his office to stabilize and position the party as the pride of Imo politicians.
“There is no need to emphasise his achievements which have endeared him to the party such as facilitation of strategic federal government projects, cash donations to party, vehicles, attraction of Federal Board appointments for party leaders, several empowerment programmes for party members at ward level.
“Senator Araraume’s introduction of oath taking in party primaries is legendary. Sensing that he would lose in an embarrassing manner, having fought fruitlessly to stop the result of the party delegates and replace it with a fake list, he brought a dreaded voodoo and compulsorily subjected delegates to devilish oath taking during the primaries. This accounted for the votes he scored because the delegates were afraid of the effect of the oath. In spite of this reality, he still lost.
“Oath-taking as a precondition to voting an aspirant during primaries is against PDP code of conduct. Our party is therefore urged to investigate this matter dispassionately and bring the culprits to book. While Senator Arararume remained in the opposition party, APC, Chief Emeka Ihedioha remained with stakeholders of PDP. It is noteworthy that among of all the governorship aspirants in Imo State, Chief Ihedioha is the only one that took pains to traverse the 27 LGAs in consultation and sensitization of the entire party membership at the grassroots level.
“It is instructive to note that Senator Araraume is a serial bad loser who is very well known for engaging in a do or die anti party activities each time a party exercise does not favour him. One wonders why, even though all the aspirants had their agents during the primaries; it is curious why only Senator Araraume is raising the issue of error in computation.
“We wish to caution, that the supremacy of the Transformed PDP ably led by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Adamu Muazu should never be brought to public ridicule for whatsoever reason. The party in its wisdom provided a defined channel for ventilating genuine grievances by party members.”
