I’ll continue to stand by PDP – Ekweremadu

 

Apparently worried by the persistent rumour that he may have dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has dismissed it saying his loyalty for the main opposition party remains intact.

He insisted that he along with other like-minded South Easterners are working round the corner to ensure the PDP oust the APC in the forthcoming elections, noting that leaving the PDP was out of the equation for now.

Recall that Ekweremadu’s loyalty became an issue following the party’s decision to select former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, as running mate to Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president.

Though he had expressed disgust after being overlooked by Atiku and the party in the choice of running mate, the highest ranking politician in the South-east, had initially been moody but later accepted the situation and moved on.

The skepticism was further fuelled by Senator Ekweremadu’s ‘silence’ in the media space since the primaries.

But early yesterday, he took to his Facebook page to clear the doubt.

“My attention has been drawn to the orchestrated attempts by some characters to create the impression of a divided house in People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the coming presidential election. Such characters dish out fake and divisive stories without source on a daily basis and attribute same to me.

“While I refuse to be distracted by such cheap blackmail, smear campaign, and extreme propaganda, it is important to reassure our supporters that the PDP is united and focused on wrestling power from the All Progressives Congress, APC.

“After the PDP lost the presidency and majority status at the National Assembly in 2015, I made it clear that I would stand by the party, no matter what. It took other party stakeholders and I a lot of efforts, sacrifices, soul-searching, and painstaking negotiations to hold the party together and rebuild it.

“If I did not abandon the PDP at its darkest hour, it does not make the slightest sense to say that I abandoned it now that its sun is rising again,” he posted on his Facebook page.

The lawmaker added that he is working with Mr Obi and others to ensure the victory of PDP in the elections. He urged his supporters to discard the rumour of his disloyalty.

The post reads further: “Meanwhile, I have held separate meetings with our Vice Presidential candidate, Peter Obi and the Chairman, South East Governors Forum, Dave Umahi, to work out strategies for the success of our party and candidates in the coming elections.

“We are also setting up a meeting of South East PDP stakeholders by weekend to continue to strategize on the coming elections. I have no doubt that the South East leaders will deliver the region overwhelmingly to the PDP and I expect that other leaders will also do the same in their respective geopolitical zones.

“Therefore, I urge our supporters not to be distracted by such propaganda as we approach the critical stages in the coming elections. We should rather focus on delivering the votes to ensure the success of our party.”

The DSP is aiming to return to the Senate in his Enugu West constituency in the National Assembly election slated to hold on March 2. The presidential election will hold on February 16 according to INEC timetable.

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