The chairman of APGA in Abia State, Augustine Ehiemere, has alleged that the PDP is trying to induce his party’s House of Assembly candidates in Ukwa-la-Ngwa ethnic group.

Mr Ehiemere disclosed this via a statement on Friday in Umuahia, urging the candidates “to refuse to be remembered on the wrong side of history.”

He stated that APGA received the intelligence about a plot by PDP to use its candidates to sabotage the chances of APGA’s Governorship Candidate, Professor Greg Ibe.

The party boss asserted that the Ukwa-la-Ngwa ethnic nationality has suffered untold neglect for the past 20 years under the PDP government in the state.

He, therefore, advised the candidates to resist any inducement, financial or otherwise, to lure them out of APGA.

“According to our intelligence, their plan is to lure the affected APGA candidates with such heavy financial offers to help deliver PDP governorship candidate, Prof. Uche Ikonne, in their respective constituencies.

“They equally promised to concede the House of Assembly seats to some of them, while others would be rewarded with political appointments in the imaginary Ikonne-led government,” Mr Ehiemere stated.

He described the experience of Ukwa-la-Ngwa people under PDP as lamentable for anybody to vote for its candidates.

He explained that the nine local government areas of Ukwa-la-Ngwa, including Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s Obingwa, had the worst roads in the state.

Mr Ehiemere expressed sadness that Ukwa had nothing to show in terms of infrastructure and other indices of development, in spite of being the only oil-bearing area of the state.

He asked, “So, why should any right-thinking candidate of Ukwa-la-Ngwa extraction succumb to the PDP trap?”

Reacting to the allegation of poaching, the PDP’s acting spokesman, Amah Abraham, said that it was not true that PDP was poaching APGA candidates.

“The truth is that the Ukwa-la-Ngwa people have realised that their interest would better be served under the PDP.

“It’s not poaching. They are people who have realised their mistakes and want to return home.

“It’s called political realignments and wheel balancing.

“We engage them constructively and they are aligning themselves with the winning party.

“It’s not a matter of any inducement. They are committed to the cause of PDP,” Mr Abraham said. 

(NAN)