By Henry Umoru

Abuja—Abia Professionals Forum, APF, has warned that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP risks losing Abia to the opposition in 2015 except the leadership of the party at the state and national level pacify aspirants who are aggrieved with the governorship primaries in the state.

APF, made up of leading members of the Abia State chapter of PDP, spoke in reaction to recent appeal by President Goodluck Jonathan and chairman of PDP,  Alhaji Adamu Muazu, to aspirants dissatisfied with the result of the recent primaries of PDP not to defect to opposition parties.

While noting that many PDP members had indeed defected to other parties while others were on the verge of doing so, the group, in a statement by its President, Sam Onukwe, advised leaders of PDP to go beyond ‘mere appeal’ if the party was not to suffer for the mismanagement of its primaries in the February 2015 general elections.

Citing the example of Abia State, the group noted that some of the aspirants now being paraded as candidates of the party were unpopular among the electorates, saying “we particularly note the situation in Abia State where there seem to be total loss of confidence in the leadership of the ruling party and particularly, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, the    controversial governorship candidate of PDP. We wonder how a candidate who is so unpopular will go round the state to canvass for votes. It is our fear that unless urgent action is taken by the leadership of PDP at the state and the national level, the electorates may be forced to speak with their voters’  card during the election, a situation which may turned out to be very unpalatable for the PDP,” the group said.

“There is no doubt that Abia PDP and its governorship candidate will need all the help they can get in the next few weeks if they are to survive the blitzkrieg expected from the opposition in the state in the next few weeks. In this vein, we would like to task the leadership of PDP at the national and state level to do everything possible to bring some of the respected, but currently aggrieved governorship aspirants, especially those known to have great influence, viable political structure and popular among Abian electorates on board to boost the ability of the party to win the governorship election.

The group identified Dr. Uche Ogah, President, Masters Energy who came second in the PDP primaries as one of such aspirants which in its estimation, could add value to PDP ticket.

APF argued that Ogah had a member and one of the key pillars of PDP since 19999.

“It is our belief that the general goodwill enjoined by Ogah as well as his popularity will greatly enhance the prospect of PDP’s victory in 2015. In our view, the only way PDP can retain Abia State in 2015 is to bring aspirants like Dr. Ogah fully on board,” the group concluded.