By Tony Edike
MEMBERS of Enugu State House of Assembly have denied ever endorsing former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for the forthcoming primaries of the People Democratic Party, PDP.

The lawmakers, who are statutory delegates to next week’s presidential primaries of the PDP, said they had not withdrawn their earlier decision to support President Goodluck Jonathan for the presidency.

In a statement issued by Chairman of House Committee on Information, Marcel Njeze, on the House’s purported endorsement of Atiku during his visit to the lawmakers in Enugu last week, said “we want to categorically state that nothing can be farther from the truth.”

They agreed that while it was true that Atiku visited them on Thursday, December 30, 2010, to seek their support, at no time did they endorse him.

The lawmakers restated their commitment to the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan, maintaining that “we are part of the larger Enugu State PDP under the leadership of Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime which had unanimously endorsed President Jonathan both for the primaries and general election. Our position remains constant.

“The House wishes to re-emphasize that it will vote in line with the known position of the government and people of Enugu State who have never hidden their total support for President Goodluck Jonathan.”

The statement explained that that when the speaker of the House, Hon. Eugene Odoh, responded to Atiku’s speech, he categorically made it clear that “we are men of integrity and will not do anything contrary to the wishes of our people.”