By CHINELO OBOGO
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Dr Ikpeazu Okezie has said that he is optimistic that he would emerge victorious in the rerun governorship election which took place yesterday.
Speaking with journalists during the election, he said that his optimism was based on the fact that the PDP was already in the lead when the governorship election was held on April 11.
His words: “My optimism is based on the fact that after the governorship election on April 11, we were leading with about 83 thousand votes. A re-run was ordered in more than 99 wards which had up to 150 thousand registered voters, but what should be considered is that a lot of registered voters would have migrated or just develop apathy and the scepticism of Abians was that not many people that collected their Permanent Voters Cards would actually come out to vote just like it happened in the presidential elections. There are 150 thousand registered voters in the wards were the rerun was held and going by the precedence in the presidential and governorship elections, it is safe to assume that those who would actually come out to vote may be around 50 thousand and that is clearly below the number of votes in which we are leading.
“I am overwhelmed by the show of support and solidarity because 24 hours before the elections, some of the governorship candidates had canvassed for people to come out to vote and that that showed that our vision for Abia was well received. It also puts a huge responsibility on my shoulders to make sure that I don’t fail Abians. I I belong to the middle class and I an am like a bridge builder between the poor and the rich and my promise to Abians is that I would not fail them.
“The level of acceptability we have had all over Abia and even in Abia north senatorial district is because I am very sensitive to the needs of everyone. Even though I am from Abia south, I have done my best to make sure that no group of people in any of the local governments feels marginalised.
“The tension that was preceded the elections was artificial and my advise to those of us who are politicians is to always tone down the level of their desperation. If politics is to seek for power to serve, then we should put our selfish desires behind. If you don’t take a cue from what President Goodluck Jonathan did, the you don’t really love your people.”
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