Abia PDP chieftain, Awa blames leadership over party’s failure to retain power

A Peoples Democratic Party Chieftain and former Deputy Chairman of Ikwuano Local Government Council Area in Abia State, Jerry Awa, has blamed the Abia leadership over the abysmal performances of the party in the concluded 2023 elections held in the state by the national electoral commission.

He maintained that the party leadership fielded an unpopular candidate who failed to display capacity in securing victory for the PDP during the concluded statewide polls conducted last year in Abia.

In an interview with Newspot on Thursday in Umuahia, Awa regretted that the party leadership jettisoned the zoning arrangements propagated by the founding fathers of Abia and the party to satisfy the inordinate ambition of one man,

He alleged that singular act caused the PDP to lose the majority of her members and supporters to other parties before the concluded main elections held in the state

He said, ”It’s quite unfortunate that at this moment, the so-called leaders could not close ranks, and they are still fighting themselves. The people the PDP leadership gave her tickets are not the right people. They don’t have the capacity, muscle, and grassroots base to win an election for PDP. A lot of mistakes were made by the party. Many stakeholders were against each other.

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“And also, the zoning system did not go the way it was supposed to. The PDP governorship ticket is supposed to go to Abia North because Abia Central and Abia South have taken their shot for eight years each. The former governor, Okezie Ikpeazu insisted power shift to ngwa extraction in Abia’s central senatorial zone.

“Nobody should blame Otti or blame anyone that the labour party and Otti won the Abia gubernatorial seat poll. If Mr A did not win, Mr B would win. The major thing is to support any government that is moving, not to criticise them”, Mr Awa added.

The former coordinator of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, ASEPA, also described the recent defections of former candidates of the party and supporters to other parties as a clear demonstration of treachery.

While decrying the persisting clashes of interests among members of the party in Abia, Awa urged the major stakeholders to shun bickering and come up with a well-defined template where all interests would be accommodated and given a level playing ground.

He said, “The leadership should do the needful and forget this rancour, bickering and indoor meetings. The leadership should come up with a template and platforms where every member of the party will be involved and benefit. Politics is not about one person, it’s about service to the people”.