Ahead of the National Assembly primary
election of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) scheduled to hold tomorrow
nationwide, Governor Sullivan Chime of
Enugu State has withdrawn from the race
of the Enugu West Senatorial District.
Chime made his decision known to the PDP
stakeholders in the state during a meeting
on Wednesday night at the Enugu
Government House.
A source at the meeting, who disclosed this
to Daily Sun, said Chime told the
stakeholders that he was withdrawing in
the over all interest and unity of the party.
The source said the governor told the
stakeholders that the party was paramount
and above any personal ambition and urged
the people of the state, particularly PDP
members from Enugu West, to ensure
Senator Ike Ekweremadu and other party
candidates emerged winners at the primary
and general elections.
Chime and Ekweremadu had been up in
political arms over who would represent the
Enugu West in the Senate, which led to the
party in the state dividing into two factions.
One led by Chief Ikeji Asogwa and the other
by Elder David Aja.
However, the PDP at the national level and
the Presidency waded into the crisis in
Enugu and Chime was said to have been
advised to allow Ekweremadu go back to
the Senate while the governor would take
charge of producing representatives in the
two other senatorial zones.
The new agreement, it was gathered, led to
the harmonisation of interests by the two
gladiators that ushered in a peaceful
election last Saturday during the House of
Assembly primary where Chief Asogwa and
Elder Aja sat side by side to conduct the
election for the aspirants.
The source at the stakeholders’ meeting
said President Goodluck Jonathan had
mounted pressure on Chime to withdraw
his senatorial ambition, adding that the
president told him to make that huge
sacrifice to save the party that had been
inundated with crises across the country.
With Chime’s withdrawal, the coast is now
clear for Senator Ekweremadu to clinch the
party’s ticket to represent Enugu West in
the Senate for four consecutive terms.
When contacted yesterday, the Chief Press
Secretary to Chime, Mr. Chukwudi Achife,
confirmed that the governor had withdrawn
from the senatorial race, but refused to
give details of his action.
The Sun.
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