IMO PDP GUBER PRIMARY: Ihedioha has no certificate of return –Okoroma

Controversy has continued to rage over who actually won the Imo State peoples Democratic Party’s gubernatorial prima­ry election held on December 8. It is be­tween the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha who was pronounced as win­ner of the contest and Senator Ifeanyi Ararume who came second. The latter is alleging that the primary was rigged in favour of the former, as the number of valid votes exceeded the number of votes cast.
The Personal Assistant to the erstwhile Senator, Dr James Okoroma is, therefore, challenging the Deputy Speaker, asking him to produce the certificate of return issued to him by the election committee if he actually won the election

“It was very clear that Hon. Emeka Ihe­dioha did not win the governorship primary election because, if he did, the committee that conducted the election would have is­sued him with a certificate of return as ac­tual winner. But he was never issued with one, because the never did. And if he claims to have won, let him produce his certificate of return.
Okoroma is insisting that the winner of the governorship primary is Senator Ifeanyi Ararume and that there is no way the party could submit the name of Ihedioha to the INEC as the winner of the primary.
“Senator Ararume is the clear winner of the December 8 governorship primary and the PDP has not submitted any name to INEC as claimed the supporters of Ihe­dioha.”
He added: “Even Ihedioha has ob­tained an injunction at Oguta High Court restraining the party from forwarding any other name except his to the INEC because he knew very well that he never won the governorship primary”
He disclosed that when the discrepancies in the number of the votes cast and the re­sult announced by the Hon. Terngu Tsegba-led Election Committee was discovered that early hours of Tuesday, that Ararume had alerted the state chairman of the party, Barr. Nnamdi Anyaehie who had gone in com­pany with the senator to see the members of the election committee at the Rock View Hotel, Owerri.
“When the discrepancies were discov­ered that early hours of the Tuesday morn­ing from the result announced and the number of valid votes and it was clear that Senator Ararume had won, we immediately alerted the state chairman of the party, Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie and together we went to see the members of the election commit­tee at the Rock View Hotel where they had lodged to draw their attention to the anoma­ly. The chairman of the election committee, Terngu Tsegba, then requested that all the contestants should meet them at the party’ s office by 9 am that day.
“But when we got there, we were shocked to learn that members of the elec­tion committee had already left for Abuja, which simply meant that they knew what they were doing and had deliberately set off another crisis in the state party. So, if Hon Ihedioha said he won, he should produce the certificate of return given to him by the election committee, because nobody signed anything after the conduct of that primary”.
Okoroma insisted that it is not about Ararume but that the right thing must be done if the country claims to be practising democracy. “We cannot continue to deceive ourselves that we are practising democracy when indeed we have refused to imbibe the tenets of democracy. So, to avoid unneces­sary crisis, the party knows the right to do, which is to simply submit the name of Sena­tor Ararume who actually won the primary to INEC”, he posited.
However, Director-General of the Eme­ka Ihedioha Campaign Organisation, Barr Chris Okewulonu, has described Sena­tor Ifeanyi Ararume as a serial loser who lacked the spirit of sportsmanship to accept defeat even when it is glaring to him that he has lost out.
He pointed out that while Ararume had pitched political tent with the defunct ACN now the APC, the Deputy Speaker House of Representatives had remained a pillar of support of the PDP.
Okewulonu also noted that among the gubernatorial aspirants, only Ihedioha had taken the pain to consult with the party’s stakeholders across the 27 local government areas of the state.
“While Senator Arararume remained in the opposition party, APC, Chief Emeka Ihedioha remained with stakeholders of PDP. It is noteworthy that among 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.”
He added: “It is instructive to note that Senator Ararume is a serial bad loser, who is very well known for engaging in 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 that only Senator Ararume is raising the issue of error in computation”.
He further noted that the action of Sena­tor Ifeanyi Ararume is capable of jeopard­izing the chances of the party’s effort to reclaim power in the state and appealed to the national leadership of the party to rein in the former senator with the appropriate disciplinary measures, before it is too late.
Meanwhile, as the battle between Hon. Ihedioha and Senator Ararume in which both contestants are claiming victory con­tinues, the people of Imo are watching with keen interest.
But more importantly, they are worried that that this is capable of resulting in anoth­er serious internal wrangling, which could cost the party the governorship seat as it did in 2011.
THE SUN