By Chesa Chesa
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors have declared that their colleague and governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, remains a full time member of the party, contrary to media reports.
Addressing the recent reports which hinted that Umahi may be defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the PDP Governors Forum said on Tuesday that it was a smear campaign to tarnish the Ebonyi Governor’s image.
Umahi’s image and put a smile on the faces of the sponsors and author of the publication.
The Director-General of the Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, said on Tuesday that Umahi remained 100 percent a PDP faithful, and would never indulge in double standards.
Onaiwu said: “The news circulating online that our dear member-governor, Engr. David Nweze Umahi of Ebonyi State said he belongs to both the PDP and APC is a blatant falsehood aimed at tarnishing the image of the governor and as well derailing him from his focus. The author of that publication acted in bad fate, with malice and certainly with ulterior and sinister motives”.
“On several occasions and at all times even in the face of stiff opposition and blackmail, Gov. Umahi has always proven to be a committed party man. He loves the party; he loves the PDP Governors Forum, and they in turn love and cherish the friendship and bond between them.
“It is therefore no gainsaying that all these is about 2023, but may we hasten to add that there are more civilized and cultured ways to go about it. Yes, he like every other key-player in the political arena, may have his ambitions and dreams upon the end of his current service tenure in 2023; he may aspire for any of the offices at the Presidential Villa, which of course he is constitutionally fit and qualified for, but that will certainly be on the platform of the PDP.
“We have enough reasons and instances to believe that he may have been quoted out of context in the now-viral online publication. We smell mischief. We see the handiwork of detractors who are too scared of his credentials and constantly growing legacies so far attained in governance in Ebonyi State.
“We perceive falsehood from the pit of hell taken too far by those who are envious of the numerous gigantic projects his administration is handling; detractors who hate the fact that in the past four going to five years, Ebonyi State how now become a huge construction site for infrastructural development too numerous to mention.
“Finally, we wish to emphatically state that Governor Umahi is 100% and above dedicated to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We can boldly say that he has never and will never indulge in the profanity of playing double standards, not with a party like PDP, which he holds dear to his heart.”
