Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi said he could not hand over power to Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate Ifeanyi Odii who is from the same senatorial district as him. He said such action would truncate the peace, equity and justice set out by the state’s founding fathers.

“It will be wrong, if after eight years, I hand over to my brother from the next door Local Government Area,” Mr Umahi, the APC senatorial candidate for Ebonyi South, said on Friday at a campaign rally in Abakaliki Local Area. “This will violate the peace, equity, justice, understanding of our founding fathers and everything that binds us.”

Mr Odii, the 48-year-old PDP candidate is from Onicha Local Government of Ebonyi State and poses strong push to succeed Mr Umahi.

The governor said that “equity and justice would be negated, if such happens.”

He said it was time to reciprocate the gestures of the Ebonyi North Senatorial District, especially the Izzi clan, which massively supported him in 2015.

“The Izzi people, in the same spirit of equity, supported me in 2015 because it was the turn of the southern district to rule.

“Power should return to the north where it all began and precisely, the Izzi clan.

“The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Chief Francis Nwifuru, should be supported,” he said.

According to him, anyone fighting for what does not belong to him, is fighting God.

He, therefore, urged the people to vote for all the APC candidates at all levels, saying that the party had performed well in the state.

“Vote for Ahmed Tinubu for President because he took care of Igbos as Lagos governor and will take care of us as president.

“I want to inform the opposition that they cannot negotiate 25 per cent of votes in Ebonyi because the state is totally for APC,” Mr Umahi said.

In a speech, the APC governorship candidate thanked the governor for ensuring that the charter of equity was respected.

He said that the people would remain eternally grateful to him for supporting equity.

“When some stakeholders of the state decided to oppose this arrangement, you decided to stand by it and bequeath peace on the land.

“We came to show capacity of delivering and demonstrate that Ebonyi is totally for APC,” Mr Nwifuru said.

(NAN)