My exclusion from Anambra governorship election temporary, says PDP’s Ozigbo

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State, Valentine Ozigbo, said on Saturday his exclusion from the list of candidates cleared for the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was temporary.

Ozigbo, who won the June 26 primaries conducted by the PDP, was conspicuously missing from the list of candidates released by the commission on Friday.

INEC cited the litigation that trailed the primary election as the reason for the exclusion of the former chief executive officer of Transcorp Plc from the election.

The aspirant, who reacted to the development in a statement issued by his media adviser, Aziza Uko, said he was still in the governorship race.

The statement read: “It is on record that the Peoples Democratic Party had the most credible party primary ahead of the November 6 Anambra State governorship election.

Read also: Former Transcorp boss, Ozigbo, emerges Anambra PDP guber candidate

“Most of the aspirants, present at the primary venue on June 26, 2021, spontaneously congratulated Ozigbo once he was declared the winner. They went on to formally publish their congratulations to him as the elected candidate of the party.

“The development, in which aspirants congratulate the elected candidate, is novel in Anambra party politics. It attests to the acceptability of the candidacy of Valentine Ozigbo and the transparency of the process from which he emerged.

“We acknowledge that Mr. Ozigbo is still reaching out in dialogue to few aspirants who feel aggrieved. At the end of the process, the PDP will emerge as one family under one big umbrella that accommodates everyone.

“We confirm that the PDP has forwarded only the name of Mr. Valentine Ozigbo as its candidate for the 2021 Governorship Election to INEC. We also confirm that he had submitted his credentials to INEC and that all the procedural necessities that should follow before INEC’s publication of the list of candidates had been completed.

“Mr. Valentine Ozigbo appreciates the interests of his teeming supporters and Ndi Anambra as a whole over the current situation. He calls on them to keep faith with the process as all is under control.”

“The issues will be resolved in no time and open the space for a one-of-a-kind campaign on issues that were top on the minds of Ndi Anambra with regards to their yearnings for transformational leadership that will usher in a new era of peace and progress to the state.”

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