Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State.

*Warn PDP leaders not to destroy the peace Okowa has brought to party

Abraka PDP Progressive Movement, APPM, yesterday discarded the information making around by one of the PDP leaders that Ethiope East local government Council Chairmanship and Councillorship election is by zoning, describing it as a cooked story to discouraged electorates and the aspirants.

The group had also said there is no way any party leader can impose an aspirant on the party when the governor has not spoken, saying that when the governor whom they know as a man of the people and the youths speaks, they will know he has spoken.

Speaking to newsmen in one of the popular hotels in Abraka, the Chairman of the group, Julius Waoma and the Secretary, Comrade Lewis Atuyota, said the governor know in his 2015 elections, there was nothing like zoning but a level playing ground.

The Chairman said, “We know His Excellency, Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa will not give room for zoning in Ethiope East, urging the governor to call for open primary to select the most popular candidate, saying that is the joy of democracy.

The group had also alleged that a top PDP leader had said the governor said the chairmanship position has been zoned to a particular ward, which he said they all know is his ward and that until that is corrected, a lot of things will go wrong and it will give room to other political parties, hence they calling for a free contest.

Speaking further the group said, “We want to express our dissatisfaction and displeasure how some top leaders of the party are using the name of the governor to say that he has zoned the Chairmanship position to a particular ward. This will be resisted until the governor comes with a statement that he is aware.

“It will be unfair if the leadership of the party refuses to create a level playing ground for all aspirants instead of supporting a particular aspirant against the others, saying that from 1999 till present date, that there was never a time chairmanship position was zoned to a particular area.

“The election that brought Chief Tony Oboro of Agbon 2 as Chairman was also contested with Chief Alex Imara of Agbon 1 and nobody argued that it was the turn of Agbon 2, that nobody should contest it with him, that tells you that there was never a time zoning existed.

“We want to appeal to Governor Arthur lfeanyi Okowa to immediately intervene on the lingering issues and come with a blueprint before it will be too late, saying that they will resist any plan of any leader to impose an aspirant on the people of Ethiope East without following due process.”