PDP Dismisses Otti’s Claim On Withdrawal of Petition

The Abia State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Emma Nwaka, on Wednesday, July 15, 2015, refuted the claim by the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Alex Otti, that he was being pressurized by PDP members to withdraw his petition at the  election tribunal  sitting in Umuahia.

Nwaka stated that PDP could not sponsor such entreaty when there was nothing at stake, noting that Otti’s claim that he was being persuaded to withdraw his case was a tactics to invite PDP to negotiate with him as a face-saving device.

He stated that PDP would not accord him any such soft landing, adding that the party was determined to pursue the electoral case to its final conclusion.

“PDP has no reason to sponsor such entreaty. You don’t make a plea for truce when you hold the ace. Perhaps, Dr. Otti is begging us to come and beg him as a face-saving device. We will not accord him any such soft-landing,” Nwaka stated.

The PDP chieftain also described Otti’s talk of reclaiming his mandate as a mere cheap propaganda, stressing, “One cannot recover what one never had.”

According to him, nobody could have approached Otti for a truce, while accusing the APGA chieftain of looking for an easy escape, having realised that the game would soon be up against him.

Nwaka further expressed faith and confidence in the judicial system, stating that Otti’s petition would soon be thrown out like that of his co-petitioners.

While  congratulating    Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for the reputation  he has achieved in a short time as an exemplary leader, he also described him as a great ambassador of the party and a symbol of the ideal of democracy.