Protests rock Onitsha over LG chairmanship poll

Human and vehicular movements were yesterday interrupted for hours when youths and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State, protested alleged substitution of their preferred candidate ahead of October 5 council election. Daily Sun gathered that the protesters mainly youths and delegates of the last chairmanship and councillorship primary election of PDP in the council area took to the major roads within the commercial city of Onitsha, chanting war songs and appealing to the PDP State Working Committee (SWC) and National Working committee (NWC) to intervene in the matter before it goes out of control. However, addressing journalists, one of the aggrieved members of the party, Mr. Philip Odukwe said the action was to press home their demand for justice and fairness to prevail over injustice and falsehood, adding that during the last primary election, the delegates from the wards in Onitsha North council area elected one Mr. Patrick Mba as their choice candidate ahead of October 5 council election. Mr. Odukwe further alleged plots by those he described as enemies of PDP in Onitsha North to substitute the popular candidate who won at the primaries with a strange name in alleged bid to frustrate PDP from winning elections in the council area. He expressed worries that Onitsha North, which produced first class leaders of Nigeria like the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ukpabi Asika and great mathematician, Prof. Chike Obi, among others could be be embarrassed with such an ugly incident which he said was inimical to the development of democracy. “Our attention has been drawn to a certain impostor who goes around, parading himself as the PDP candidate for Onitsha North council area after he was mercilessly beaten by Patrick Mba in the primary election, held at Ezechime Primary School, Onitsha. The said impostor is also brandishing a list containing all the names of councillorship candidates in typewritten form while his own was written with hand. We are suspecting that he might have colluded with enemies of PDP in Onitsha North to substitute our rightful candidate and that is why we have taken this first step before it is too late. “We are calling for justice and attention of the National Working Committee of our party and the state chairman of the party to look into these facts before it tear our party apart because the delegates that elected Mba will not allow anybody to impose an unpopular candidate who cannot win election on us,” he said. CREDIT: SUN NEWS