The political tension and intrigues as regard the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries in Abia State is taking another dimension as a group known as Abia State Democratic Force (ADF) has warned against intimidating delegates especially the elected councilors in voting the governors anointed gubernatorial aspirant.

The group which is led by one Chijioke Nwaubani, revealed that they have credible information that Abia State Government agents who are frustrated by the decision of INEC in connection with cancelled PDP three-man delegate election, are now intimidating councilors and mandating them to vote for the governors anointed aspirant.

In the press release which was released in Abuja, the group revealed that Local Government Area Chairman in Abia State have being mandated to open whatsapp groups for their LGAs where councilors will be added (except an obviously unfriendly councilors). They also revealed that councilors were equally instructed to snap the voting material after voting and send it into the whatsapp group to prove that they complied with the instruction of state agents.

The group condemned this action and wondered why Abia State Government are becoming dangerously desperate in forcing an aspirant on the PDP in Abia State, to the extent of intimidating, harassing and threatening delegates, including elected Councillors and other statutory delegates!

In the press release, the group called on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP to be careful about Abia State before the party loses the state to the opposition. They revealed that the said anointed aspirant of the governor is not popular on ground and his antecedent does not equally help matter. They warned that if the NWC supports the State Government by forcing the anointed candidate on the PDP, then the party will lose the state to either APGA or APC.

The group urged councilors to remain resolute, focused and not be intimidated by the moves of desperate politicians as they have no powers to carry out their threat!

“This people intimidating you now, deceived you, abandoned you for months. Sometime last year they promised to give you projects to execute in your wards under the aegis of one-ward-one-project, you suffered and articulated the project only for them to, in their usual way behaved like it was never discussed. Now again, because they need your vote, they have come to make the same promise to you without recourse to the same promise they made before. That alone summarizes how they regard councilors”.

“Councilors must remember that the way Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is elected, you are also elected, so don’t allow anyone to intimidate you, vote your conscience, you don’t owe anyone any apology. After voting, don’t snap your voting material, if they give you money collect it and vote the right man for the job”

“They are not in-charge, if they are in-charge, why was Acho Nwakanma changed as Governorship Screening committee Chairman?”

“If they have Abuja connection and backing, why was his so much talked about failed 3-man Delegate list thrown out?”

“Let no one deceive you, just as they abandoned the state, LGA and Ward PDP Excos, so did they abandon the National Working Committee, they are now throwing money around thinking human beings are for sale”.

“State agents at every forum are threatening councilors, delegates and stakeholders of how they will deal with them if their various local government fails to deliver for the anointed candidate. They are intimidating them by saying that ballot boxes will be separated according to LGAs and that through that process they will discover the LGAs that will fail to deliver”

The group called on the delegates to ignore that assertion because the voting box will not be separated into LGAs, they urged them to vote their conscience.

The group finally called on Abians to be prepared to recover their state from desperate politicians, corrupt politicians who have milked the state resources and want to continue milking it in 2023.