From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, Chief Joe-Martin Uzodike, has counseled aspirants seeking the party ticket for the Anambra governorship election to commence an elimination process in order to trim their number and avoid a waste of resources.
Uzodike, speaking with Daily Sun in Onitsha, bemoaned a situation where aspirants ferry over N200 million to Abuja for party nomination forms even when they know that only one person will win the party ticket at the end of the day.
He condemned the desperation of some aspirants in the race, noting that any reasonable person seeking elective office in Anambra should be conscious of certain parameters of assessment like zoning and capacity before wasting resources in the race.
He adviced the multiple aspirants to discuss and find ways of reaching a consensus which will help some aspirants with slimmer chances of getting the party ticket to step down and assist a better positioned candidate to succeed.
He warned that acrimonious primaries, division, disunity and desperation for power at any cost could cost the PDP a better opportunity of taking the Awka Government House, and urged stakeholders and interested parties to drop selfish interests and work for the party’s success at the polls.
‘The aspirants should talk to themselves and commence an elimination process. People should realise that zoning is a reality in Anambra politics whether you like it or not. That was the mantra upon which we went for the last election in the state. It is the ruling party that determines the zoning pattern in a state. Let that mistake not be made. For you to upstage the ruling party, you must not only match the attributes of their candidate but also surpass them,’ Uzodike said.