The battle for Abia Government House intensified yesterday as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Dr. Kelechi Anosike, issued a quit notice on Governor Alex Otti, stating that his party had started a movement to reclaim the state in the 2027 election.
Anosike, who spoke at the inauguration of the management team of his Campaign Council in Umuahia, also moved to tackle one of the biggest issues that could dog the PDP throughout the campaign – its 24 unbroken years in power before Otti and the Labor Party swept it out of Government House in 2023.
Instead of shying away from the party’s past, the governorship candidate sought to turn the issue against his opponents, arguing that many of the political actors blamed for the PDP’s years in government had since migrated to Labor Party, All Progressives Congress (APC) and other parties.
“When they tell you PDP killed Abia for 24 years, tell them those actors are no more in PDP. “They are in Labor, APC, ADC, NDC,” said Anosike.
“This is a new PDP. Same party, new mindset, new focus, new direction,” he added.
His declaration has raised what is likely to become one of the major faultlines of the Abia governorship contest: whether the PDP can convince voters that it has sufficiently reinvented itself four years after its rejection at the polls and whether Otti can persuade the electorate that his administration has delivered enough change to deserve another mandate.
Anosike said the inauguration was not just about putting a campaign organization in place, but the formal commencement of a movement to take power from the Otti administration.
“For me, we have embarked on a journey. And the journey is to take back the soul and future of our state. “A crusade to wipe out lies and swindles in our state,” he proclaimed.
“It’s not just the inauguration of the campaign council. This is more like starting a movement. A movement that believes in ‘Abia First, People Always.’”
Anosike said that despite the sharp attack on the government, the coming contest would be fought on ideas rather than insults and personal attacks. His campaign would challenge the incumbent administration on bread and butter issues including hunger, unemployment, industrialization and opportunities for young people, he said.
“We’re not giving them the usual campaign promises or rhetorics. “We are going into specifics, that if before now, you no dey get food to eat, when Anosike come, you get more than enough to eat.
“If our youth have no opportunities, when Anosike comes, there will be opportunities everyplace, because we will establish, at least, three industries in a year. It can be done.”
He charged members of the campaign council to take what he called the party’s message of welfarism to “every local government, every village, every community and every ward.”
Empire Kanu, former Nigerian Ambassador to Argentina and Chairman of the campaign council, escalated the attack on Otti’s government, declaring that the Labor Party is merely a temporary occupant of Abia Government House.
“PDP is not a new party. Abia is PDP, PDP is Abia State. “Labour is just holding the position temporarily,” said Kanu.
“We knew what happened in 2023, and that mistake is never going to happen again. This young man Dr. Anosike is a very serious candidate. “Very, very ready,” he said.
Kanu said the Otti administration and the ruling party are on “very, very shaky ground,” contending that the PDP’s grassroots structure will be pivotal in the election.
“I don’t see how you can run without a strong party structure,” he said.
He therefore identified the wards as the battle ground and tasked the campaign officials to deliver their areas.
“You know where we usually get our votes from? It’s at the level of the ward. So that is where we are to work. When you deliver in the ward, we have won. You have been appointed to deliver all the wards in this state to PDP. We want no excuse at all. By His grace, we are going to Government House.”
The PDP also confessed that its own failings played a part in its loss of power in 2023. Chief Obinna Nwachukwu, Director-General of the Campaign Council, said the party had learnt from the mistakes of the last election and would approach the 2027 contest differently.
We know why we lost the election because we were not intentional in the last election. “This time, we’re going to be committed, and intentional,” Nwachukwu said.
He made no bones about the party’s determination to regain power, saying its members were suffering from a “hunger for power” after three years outside Government House.
PDP people have been eating and in the last three years we are all hungry. hunger for power, not hunger for food. “We want to come back to power,” he said.
“Try us. You will be shocked if this is the same Abia State of yore.”
The battle that is emerging, therefore, gives both camps contrasting records to defend. Anosike must convince voters that the PDP seeking power in 2027 is different from the party that governed Abia for 24 years, while Otti will face the electorate as an incumbent required to defend his administration’s record after four years in office.
The Campaign Council Management Team has Kanu as the Chairman, Nwachukwu as the Director-General and Ukpai Ukairo as the Secretary.
Also present at the inauguration which held at the Anosike Campaign Office on Aba Road, Umuahia, were the Abia PDP chairman and deputy governorship candidate, Elder Amah, where PDP flags were presented to the team members.