PDP Presidential Aspirant Withdraws; Says Ticket Skewed Towards Particular Outcome

By Charles Igbo

Not a few people found it amusing when Imo State- born Ike C. Ibe, declared he was running for the office of the President of Nigeria.

Not many people took him seriously. Nor did anybody think he took himself seriously.

The chorus was: Ike who? Outside Imo State, many opined, he did not have name-recognition. But in fairness to him, he had tried, unsuccessfully, to run for the Governorship seat of Imo State a couple of times.

Most people who raised eyebrows when he declared interest in the office of the President knew he was not going to last in the race. What they didn’t know, however, is that it was going to end so soon. That he would not even get to the stage of purchasing the Presidential form

His tall ambition came to an abrupt end on Wednesday, April 6 when he quit the race. In a letter addressed  to his friends, he admitted that many were skeptical about his ambition but that they later realised he was serious. However, he said he was full of disappointments over the happenings in the party. He said he had since been suspicious “about the machinations in our party.”

But that things had become a lot worse than he thought within the past couple of weeks.

He said: “I have come to realise that the Primary and ticket process have been ‘skilfully’ skewed towards a particular outcome.” He noted that they had rapidly worsened in the past 24 hours.

He said: “It became more certain in the last 24 hours with the unprecedented news that the Party is throwing open ( the ticket) to all sections of the country, against expected wisdom.”

He, therefore, withdrew from the race, saying it would be irresponsible of him to continue in the race. He promised to return all funds so far donated to his aborted project.

Following is his letter of withdrawal, personally signed by him.

“My dear friends, for several months we have been here together in pursuit of my presidential ambition through our party PDP. A lot has happened and still happening. When we started, few were skeptical about this project. But with what we have done so far and the consultations we have undertaken, those who were initially skeptical must have become convinced of our seriousness. Events in the last few weeks have really made me suspicious about the machinations in our party.

“I have come to realize that the primary and ticket process has been ‘skillfully’ skewed towards a particular outcome. It became more certain in the last 24 hours with the unprecedented news that the party is throwing the primary open to all sections of the country against expected wisdom and in clear and total violation of Article 7 (2) (c) of the 2009 constitution of the party that says “in pursuance of the principles of equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the principle of rotation and zoning in party positions and elective public offices, and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels”. The action the party has decided to take in jettisoning rotation and zoning in the presidential race is a complete betrayal of the unity which is the bedrock of the party and in practice since and as applied few months ago when national party positions were directly zoned.

“This is indeed disheartening and capable of destroying the very fabric of our party and indeed country. This will destabilize even other established zoning arrangements of the party throughout the entire 36 states and Abuja. This will mean total chaos in the party. We all trusted that the party would do the right thing and continue with the constitutional practice but it failed to do so.

“Our confidence in the party leadership is shaken and the actions taken so far are both suspicious and unjust and probably fraudulent. In view of these, I’m saddened to state that continuing in the primary process is unrealistic and irresponsible.

“I’m therefore suspending my participation in the PDP presidential process for now while I weigh all options going forward. I am going ahead to return all the donations made by our supporters towards our planned trip to purchase nomination forms on Friday the 8th.

“From the young kid that sent 111 naira, to my friend and agemate who donated a million Naira etc, we seek to return all as a mark of responsibility since they will no longer be used as intended.

“I urge the donors I do not know personally to please inbox me your account details for the return. God who brought us all together here and started this process will continue to keep us here going forward.

“I sincerely hope you understand this my position in our quest to challenge the status quo and seek to change our national narrative for the better.

“Please stay tuned for further information as we continue to seek God’s face. Blessings to us all.”

Ike C. Ibe