From Steve Oko , Umuahia
A chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Abia State, Isaac Nkole, has accused the state leadership of the party of “abandoning” Abia North senatorial district.
Nkole, who addressed newsmen in Umuahia as a concerned indigene of Abia North, expressed worry over the current political development in the zone at the senate.
Recall that the incumbent Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC) representing the zone is currently serving a 12-year jail term following his conviction by the court on a 39 -count fraud and money laundering charge.
Kalu contested against Senator Mao Ohuabunwa who lost his appeal against Kalu’s victory at the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri.
Nkole who said Abia North had already lost so much following the absence of a representative at the senate since Kalu was incarcerated, accused PDP of abandoning the zone to its fate.
He decried the “biting consequences” of the absence of a representative for the zone at the senate.
His words : ” Does it mean that Abia North no longer matters to the state? Nobody is speaking for us now at the senate yet our party leadership is silent and doing nothing.
“Why are the PDP stakeholders keeping quiet over Abia North ? We are loosing out in constituency projects yet no one seems bothered.
” Could it be they had a deal with APC or what that made them look away while a whole senatorial district is being sidelined?
“As a concerned indigen of Abia North, I want PDP stakeholders to speak out now because the people are loosing confidence in them and suspecting conspiracy “.
” This makes us to believe that some of them may have truly sabotaged the party during the 2019 elections as then speculated. ”
According to him, it is hard to reconcile that PDP despite being the ruling party in the state has maintained “suspicious silence” over the matter.
He accused the party leadership of non-challancy over the affairs of Abia North.
Nkole argued that PDP ought to have initiated some notable steps towards pressurising the senate leadership as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC ” to do the needful”.
He lamented that the zone had not witnessed any new project apart from those attracted by Ohuabunwa some of which were at the various stages of completion when “he was robbed of his mandate”.
Nkole further expressed pains that uncompleted projects by Ohuabunwa had since been abandoned since he left as the zone ‘is now voiceless”.
He challenged Abia PDP to show empathy over the political condition of the zone by wading into the matter especially in view of the fact that its candidate “was the People’s choice who still stands a better chance of having his stolen mandate restored” in the event of a fresh poll.
