TheCable

Tony Nwoye, an aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary in Anambra state, has withdrawn from the race.

Nwoye announced his withdrawal in a statement on Saturday, hours before the commencement of the exercise.

He was one of the favourites among the 16 aspirants and had in 2017 contested in the state governorship election as a candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said the process has been “greatly flawed”, and cited the exclusion of the party’s ad-hoc delegates and executive members from the process as the reason for his withdrawal.

The party dissolved its state executive members in Anambra and withdrew the ad hoc delegates after a high court ruling nullified the processes that led to their emergence.

Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP spokesman, said it will carry on with “a lawful process of allowing our eligible automatic delegates” to elect its candidate.

Nwoye said the developments should be of “grave concern to every true democrat and believer in the inalienability of the rights of true party people to freely choose the party’s flag bearer” in the election.

“On Thursday, I was still traversing the hinterland, ahead of the primaries, slated for Saturday, June 26, when I was jolted by the news of the party’s National Working Committee’s (NWC) release concerning the party’s primaries,” he said.

“In the NWC release, the entire ward level executives, local government executives and State executives and also the elected ad hoc delegates who emerged from the duly conducted delegates election, will no longer be voting in the primaries election.

“Instead, only a handful of automatic/super delegates whose names appeared in a made-up list will be deciding who flies the party’s flag at the governorship polls.

“Owing to this development, I consulted with my supporters, most of whom are the bedrock of our Party at the grassroots level where I belong, and my ever supportive family, and came to the inevitable conclusion that the process had been greatly flawed.”