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From Magnus Eze, Enugu
The governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the March 18 elections in Enugu State, Chijioke Edeoga, has accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and their agents in the state of desperately trying to put a wedge between him and the presidential candidate of his party, Mr Peter Obi.
He said that he has no disagreement whatsoever with the Presidential candidate of his party.
Edeoga stated that rather, he and the former Anambra State Governor are bonded, not just because they belong to the same political party, but more by their commitment to transparency, honesty and corruption-free lifestyles.
According to him, both of them ascribe to the notion that leadership has to be defined by character, competence, capacity and commitment to the ideals of people-oriented leadership.
Edeoga who was reacting to some insidious news item currently circulating around social media, purporting that he made certain statements about Mr. Peter Obi at a meeting at his residence, categorically said such meeting never took place.
He declared that they were both preoccupied by efforts to reclaim their mandates. And for who believe that investing in diversionary pernicious and mendacious propaganda is their own means of legitimizing their flawed emergence as leaders of the people, he said that “we can only wish them the kind of luck they deserve.”
Edeoga stated these in a statement he personally signed, titled: “Intentional mendacious efforts to stoke division in the Labour Party family, and create an atmosphere of mistrust between Peter Obi and myself.”
He said such baseless publication was a part of the desperate, yet vain efforts of agents of destabilisation that have been unleashed to attack and impugn the integrity of the Labour Party and its leaders across the country.
He said: “Ever since the unfortunate outcome of the elections, both Peter Obi and I, in full agreement with our great Party, have gone to Court, expecting to get justice, not just for ourselves as candidates in the election, but for Nigerians who voted for us, and who see us as emblematic of the change they have longed to experience.
“We are aware that, having challenged the integrity of what they would want to regard as their victory at the polls, the people who have clearly murdered sleep by their mindless usurpation of the mandate of the people, have found preoccupation in manufacturing and spreading all manner of tasteless, asinine falsehoods against the opposition, all in futile efforts to appear good and legitimize their contrived victories.
“This is exactly what is happening both at the national level of our great party, where desperate attacks are being invented against the person of Peter Obi and the Labour Party on a daily basis, and in Enugu, where those who claim they were victorious at the polls are busy trying to create discontent between me and Peter Obi, rather than celebrating their pyrrhic electoral triumph.”
Edeoga noted that similar attempts to put wedge between him and the presidential candidate during the campaigns had collapsed like a pack of cards.
Continuing he said: “I have had a very strong relationship with our revered Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and I am aware that he also harbours profound love and respect for my person. He has made strong statements about his endorsement of my candidature through a number of verifiable channels, on television, on his Twitter accounts and at various rallies and events. We worked together all through the campaign, and it was a result of this strong working relationship that the Enugu people delivered over 80 per cent of votes to the Labour Party during the Presidential elections.
“We are resolute in our determination to recover, through the instrument and platform of the Nigerian judiciary, the mandate that the people of Enugu State freely and willingly gave to us. To this end, we have already filed our petition at the Enugu State Election Petitions Tribunal and we are optimistic about a fair and just outcome. In the same way, we are aware that our presidential candidate, His Excellency, Peter Obi, is also exploring every legal and just means to recover the mandate that we all believe Nigerians also freely gave him. These are our preoccupations for now.”
