Some stakeholders in Abia State have expressed grave concern over the sudden disappearance of the Governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Prof. Uchenna Ikonne barely 60 days to the election.
The concerned stakeholders said that he was sighed towards the end of November and expressed worry that no one has been able to offer any explanation to the whereabout of the PDP governorship candidate even as candidates of other political parties are traversing the length and breath of the state engaging the electorate.
Speaking with our reporter on Sunday, Tim Ogwuru who is former Spokesperson to the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar in 20119 said that the unexplained and sudden disappearance of the candidate has raised some questions in terms of his health, safety and capacity to govern Abia state.
He said that his sudden disappearance has naturally raised a lot of suspicion as regards his state of health and mental capacity to take the driving seat of the Chief Executive of Abia state which is very tasking and demanding physical, social and psychological commitment.
Ogwuru said, “Any well-meaning citizen of Abia state should be interested in the total state of the candidates that wants to govern the state for the next four years. Abia state cannot afford to elect an absentee governor, a Chief executive that lacks the capacity to tackle the challenges in the state or one who will absent from duty due to one reason or the other.
“Once you raise suspicion, you create curiosity and that’s what is playing out right now in Abia state. The last time l sighted him was on the 24/11/2022 and to date nobody could be able to offer a very simple explanation as to why he has not been seen in public either campaigning or attending public functions.
“It’s quite curious that this disappearing act is happening at a time political activities are at the highest level in Nigeria because 2023 is a very important election year”.
The elder statesman demanded that his handlers should immediately make him available within seven days to avoid endless speculation or make public his whereabout to avoid unfounded conclusions.
“My thinking is very simple and l do not want to dive into endless speculations or wanting to play politics. Some of you may have noticed that some of us are not frontline politicians but when questions need to be asked, we don’t hesitate asking those direct questions for sake of being on the record.
“To do the right thing is easier and simple to manage than doing the wrong thing. The more his handlers are keeping quiet, the more they create more difficulties for his campaign as they will end up with more confusion in their campaign and create lies, innuendo and myths in the minds of Abian’s and more so the Abia electorate.
“Public statement must be issued now with no delays whatsoever or risk making a mess of his campaign. Be rest assured that the Abians will not accept this hide and seek from any of the major political participants. As a matter of urgency l ask my fellow Abian’s to lend their voice and support in this searching question of the where about of PDP gubernatorial candidate Prof. Ikonne, who has not been seen or sighted in public for more than 50 days now.
“Our inquisition is based on the need to know and its above party politics, but all about Abia State which is higher and more important than any individual in the state. May l seriously submit if no public statement is issued within the next 7 days, Abian’s will be right to assume that whatever may be his personal problems may not allow him to continue seeking for mandate of Abia people and their electorate.”
Ogwuru lamented that the state has been unfortunate in terms of quality leadership adding that it has produced the worst set of leaders since the return of democracy in 1999. He said that the state comes last in infrastructural development despite high-capacity industries and human capital that the state is blessed with.
He said that 2023 is not a time for trial and error but an opportunity to elect visionary leaders with proven capacity and energy to deliver the dividends of democracy.
He advised the electorate to place competence over zoning and ensure that they use their votes to demand infrastructural development, support to the industrial sector, development of SMEs, development of the Education sector and restoration of security in the state.
