Oduah, Ubah lost out in Anambra guber race

………PDP declares winner of primaries

– Ahead of the governorship election in Anambra, Mr Oseloka Obaze has been declared as winner of the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party

– Oseloka Obaze reportedly polled 672 out of about 958 votes by delegates

– Other aspirants including Senator Stella Oduah have expressed dissatisfaction with the exercise

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have settled for Mr Oseloka Obaze as its candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra state, reports have indicated.

Channels Television reports that Obaze emerged winner of the governorship primary election of the party in Anambra ahead of the election that holds in the coming weeks.

The report said Obaze, a former secretary to the Anambra state government, scored 672 out of the votes from a total of 958 delegates.

His victory is coming amid heavy protests from other aspirants on the party’s platform.

According to the Vanguard, some of the aspirants who are not happy with the outcome of the primary election include the chairman of Capital Oil, Ifeanyi Uba; former minister of state for transportation, Senator Stella Oduah; Prince John Emeka and a member of the House of Representatives, Lynda Ikpeazu.

According to the report, they all protested against the alleged unwillingness of the party to listen to their grievances.

Anayo Ekeanya, the special adviser on media to Senator Stella Oduah, said she was part of the aspirants who protested in Awka.

The protesters claim the delegate conference was marred by irregularities.

The report quoted Oduah as confirming that she was not happy with the process.

According to Oduah, the returning officers of the conference personally filled the result sheets that was submitted in Abuja. In this case, he allegedly discarded the one used for the conference.

“As if the case of hijacking was not enough, the ultimate result of the ward congress which was submitted by the Secretary of the panel was switched for a doctored result.

“The exercise violated all known principles of democratic practice.

“Several complaints have continued to trail the exercise as most party faithful are disgruntled and agitated,” Oduah reportedly said.

“Based on the above, I wrote to notify the chairman of my protest and intention to withdraw from the 2017 gubernatorial primaries in Anambra if the party fails to address the issues presented.

“This is because the approach employed for the party primary is not aimed at winning election.

“The implication of this is to subject loyal party faithful to stressful and rancorous primary to weaken and sap the strength of candidate that will emerge from the exercise.

“It should be recalled that this has been the reason our party has been losing gubernatorial elections in Anambra,” she added.