Governor Okowa taking charge at the Ekiti guber PDP primary.
The Delta State PDP has commended Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for the skillful way he handled the conduct of the Ekiti governorship PDP primary election that ended without rancor, yet produced a winner.
A statement by the Party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Michael Ifeanyi Osuoza stated that the party in the state “ is extremely proud and thrilled that our party leader, His Excellency Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has done it again in Ekiti State, where he once again successfully conducted the PDP Governorship primary election for the July 14 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, as the Chairman of the Primary election committee.”
The text of the statement reads: “There is a maxim that states unequivocally that a good product always sells itself and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has consistently proved that he is indeed a good product in the PDP family whose reputation and pedigree continues to grow in leaps and bounds, after re-awakening a rejuvenated PDP, when he mid-wifed it’s hugely successful national convention, by an excellent combination of astute, articulate and strategically brilliant supervision of the national elective congress in December 2017.
“Governor Okowa landed in Ekiti State against the backdrop of wild, unrestrained, widespread uncontrollabe violence and brigandage, which was let loose by the garrulous and infantile All Progressives Congress, APC, who had turned the hitherto peaceful State into a theatre of political war and electoral battlefield, over a simple matter like conducting their governorship election primaries.
“Ekwueme, as the Governor is fondly called, took full control of proceedings as the Chairman of the Primary Committee for the PDP primaries and being very mindful of a threatened devious plot by the dubious and disorganized All Progressives Congress, APC to attempt to scuttle and disrupt the exercise, personally supervised the accreditation for the close to 2,000 delegates cutting across 177 wards, who were eligible to participate in the PDP primaries.
“We in Delta PDP, having witnessed the flagrant indiscipline, shameless impunity and no-holds-barred orgy of violence that had marred the APC governorship primaries, were very conscious of the fact that there is nothing beyond them (APC), for the obvious reason that if they can disrupt their own primary, then they will see nothing wrong in coming out there to come and disrupt our own too in Ekiti State.
“We have always believed that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance and with Governor Okowa, a veteran of many political battles like this at the helm of affairs, the message was sent out loud and clear to both our members and the fragmented opposition that though we are peace-loving in the PDP, we were not going to behave like we did in the past when we assumed that APC will be peace-loving too. Senator Okowa took personal charge of proceedings and the result is the resounding success of our peaceful governorship primaries in Ekiti State.
“We want to state emphatically that as a responsible political party, the PDP in Delta State is very satisfied with the process of the Ekiti Governorship Primaries, which was credible, free and fair with delegates insisting on exercising their franchise and free-will, by casting their votes for their preferred aspirants and the process of accreditation and voting continuing all day, which ensured that everybody who was accredited voted, no matter how late it was, under the strict supervision of our own Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
“We want to use this medium to extend our profound gratitude to all the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and commend all stakeholders, particularly the aspirants, for not only displaying the spirit of sportsmanship in their commitment toward a peaceful, free and credible process, but indeed for keeping to their resolve to work together to ensure the victory of the party at the main election, irrespective of the outcome of the primary election.
“We note with great satisfaction that the processes leading to the primary election was very transparent which largely ensured that there were no complaints from the major aspirants and their supporters before, during and after the primaries. Indeed we witnessed the highest level of transparency and committed effort to ensure an all-inclusive playing ground for all aspirants in all the processes leading to the governorship primary and for this we say kudos to our dear Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
“We have no doubts whatsoever, that the Appeal Committee which will be headed by our party’s National Chairman, the indefatigable Prince Uche Secondus, would have a relaxed and easy job of upholding the creed that party is desirous of sticking to the rules and making sure that a popular candidate emerged, after the excellent supervision of the Primaries by Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.
“We congratulate His Excellency Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State for the tremendous support and conducive atmosphere provided for the primaries, which not only made the job easier for Governor Okowa as Chairman of the election committee, but indeed has gone a long way to further consolidate the friendship and brotherhood which was established from the national convention and continues to exist amongst the PDP Governors, with the fearless and dynamic ‘Osokomole’ as Chairman of our governors forum.
“We also extend our profound gratitude to the aspirants; Prof. Kolapo Olusola Eleka, the incumbent Deputy Governor of the State, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District in the Senate (although, she stepped down), Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of our great party, for their brilliant, issues-based, rancour-free campaign and conduct before and during the primaries. These are all distinguished men and party leaders with outstanding track records of superlative service both in their personal lives and in their unblemished service to the party all through the years. Congratulations one and all.
“On a final note, we are absolutely confident that our victorious candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola Eleka who will now fly the PDP flag in the July 14, 2018 Ekiti State Governorship election, will beat any other candidate and emerge victorious after the elections and we urge our members in Ekiti to remain vigilant and give no chance to external forces, who might be used to attempt to disrupt the peace of the State.
“We also hope that with the successful conduct of our primaries in Ekiti State, we have not only taught the APC a valuable lesson in democratic conduct but proved to the whole world that the PDP has arrived and is now poised to take over in 2019.
“We in Delta PDP are completely happy and satisfied with the excellent work our Governor and leader of our party Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has done as Chairman of the Ekiti State PDP Governorship Primaries and we therefore wish to also invite the rest of Nigeria and the world to come and witness the PDP Primaries in our dear Delta State when the time comes. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has further raised the bar in election conduct in Nigeria. He has done it again in Ekiti State.”
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