Former Transcorp CEO, Valentine Ozigbo, Picks PDP Ticket for Anambra Governorship

By Chuks Okocha and David-Chyddy in Awka

Former Chief Executive Officer of Transnational Corporation PLC, (Transcorp), Mr Valentine Ozigbo has been elected the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State.

Ozigbo polled 62 votes out of the 218 votes cast in a Governorship election primary held Saturday in Awka.

He beat his closest rivals; Dr Obiora Okonkwo who polled 58 votes and Senator Uche Ekwunife who polled 44 votes.

16 aspirants went into the contest for the ticket of the party, but three of the aspirants; Barr Emeka Etiaba, Dr Tony Nwoye and Mr Chuma Nzeribe stepped down from the contest.

Other Aspirants who scored votes in the contest were; Walter Ubaka Okeke, two votes; Chris Azubogu, 10 votes; Genevieve Ekwochi, three votes; Chidi Onyemwlukwe, two votes; Ifedi Okwenna, one vote; Winston Udeh, 12 votes; and Godwin Maduka, five votes; while three votes were voided.

Announcing the result, the secretary of the PDP primary election committee, Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr Philip Shaibu, said: “I, Comrade Philip Shaibu by the powers conferred no me, I hereby declare Mr Valentine Ozigbo as the winner of the PDP Anambra Governorship election, having scored the highest votes.”

In his reaction, vice presidential candidate of the party in the 2019 election, Mr. Peter Obi, said that the election had come to an end. While congratulating Ozigbo, he also commended the other contestants that participated in the election for their hard work and sacrifices.

He called on them not to see the conclusion of the gubernatorial primaries “as the end of the beginning, but rather the beginning of the end.”

“I thank the National Chairman who, together with his leadership, has remained neutral. I congratulate the PDP family in Anambra state who has given the state the most peaceful and organized process of choosing a candidate,” Obi, a former governor of Anambra, said.

He called on the PDP in the state and beyond to pull together as a family towards what he described as “a journey of building a better Anambra State for the future of our children and the true “light of the nation.”

A faction of PDP in Anambra State had earlier on Saturday elected Senator Ugochukwu Uba as its standard bearer at a parallel governorship primary.

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