Chief Sampson Orji, the gubernatorial aspirant of People’s Democratic Party in Abia, has declared his support for Mr Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate.
The gubernatorial aspirant disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Umuahia.
According to Orji, his preference for Obi against PDP’s Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was based on Obi’s competence.
He said that he would mobilise support for Obi, not because is his fellow Igbo man but for his antecedent.
He stated: I’m a PDP man till tomorrow but I will support Obi not because he is Igbo but because of what he represents.Obi is a movement. My family and friends will vote for him. Atiku is my friend but Obi is a better candidate.Aside from competence, equity also favours Obi’s candidacy.South-East is the only zone in Southern Nigeria yet to take its turn at the Presidency.Why can’t Atiku support Obi, who was his running mate in 2019?I must speak the truth: What are we gaining in PDP that for 16 years it was in power, Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway is not passable?You cannot drive from Umuahia to Ikot Ekpene or Owerri to Umuahia on a good road.So, it is blindness to tell me to support Atiku, when we have Obi who has shown competence and capacity to take Nigeria out of the woods.Should I work against him because he is Igbo?, he added.
Orji also gave his support to the candidacy of Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe of APGA for Abia South Senatorial District for the fifth time.
Sen. Abaribe, had aspired for the PDP’s governorship ticket,but later defected to APGA, alleging irregularities in PDP’s three-man delegates congress.
He is being challenged by Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, who picked the PDP’s ticket for the same constituency.
However, Orji, popularly called SCOJ, described Abaribe as too experienced to be sacrificed for Ikpeazu.
According to him, Abaribe had proved his mettle in the Upper Chamber, considering his antecedent and pedigree as an experienced lawmaker.
Orji also advised Ikpeazu to step down for Abaribe and not waste his time and resources.
The former Commissioner for Trade and Commerce, argued that it would be a great disservice to Abia South to replace a champion with a fresher.
He stated, Asking me to choose between Ikpeazu and Abaribe is like asking one to choose between experience and the lack of it.Abaribe is too experienced to be replaced with a greenhorn, who would only go there to begin to learn the ropes.Abaribe has performed well in the senate.At a time he was the only voice not just for PDP or Ndigbo but Nigeria.He stood against injustice in the Senate.If I have the opportunity, I will tell Ikpeazu to step down for him.It is not a must that every governor will retire to the senate.I am a Christian and at my age, if I see what is right and refuse to say it, I wonder if I will say it in the grave.Orji noted that being a PDP chieftain would not make him to shy away from the truth “because of my conscience and Christian faith.
He also frowned at the trend where every governor now want to retire to the Senate.
According to Orji, the senate should not be converted into a retirement benefit for former governors.
He added that if Ikpeazu did well as governor, he will win.
Also, he said that being a governor does not mean automatic victory at the poll.
He cited the case of Sen. Orji Kalu who, after two tenures as governor, contested for the Senate for three consecutive times and lost until the fourth attempt.
However, Orji tipped the PDP Candidate for Abia North Senatotrial District, a former House of Representatives member, Mao Ohuabunwa, to defeat Kalu.
Kalu is running on APC’s platform for his second tenure.
Orji, who contested the PDP’s governorship primary election of May 25, has approached the Umuahia Federal High Court to nullify Prof. Uche Ikonne’s emergence as the party’s flag bearer.
The Court has slated Friday, Oct. 21 for the hearing of the case.