Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has confirmed that the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate, Uche Ikonne, is ill.

Mr Ikpeazu disclosed this on Monday in a local radio programme monitored in Umuahia.

The governor, however, said Mr Ikonne was “recovering gradually and progressively.”

According to him, Mr Ikonne attended some rallies organised by the PDP in Abia, including the November 24, 2022, launch of the party’s state-wide campaign at the Umuahia Township Stadium.

He further disclosed that Mr Ikonne left the stadium for a gala night, organised in honour of the G-5 Governors in his (Mr Ikpeazu) Umuobiakwa country home in Obingwa, “where he managed to give a speech and then he took ill.”

“It is unfortunate that he is lately indisposed, but I want to report some progress, and the progress is that Ikonne is recovering gradually and progressively. He has left the hospital and is going through convalescence,” the Abia governor explained. “I am sure that he will be strong enough in the future to join.”

Mr Ikpeazu urged residents of the state to keep hope alive, assuring them that Ikonne would soon bounce back. He contended that his absence from the political space this time “will not define the progress of the campaigns or agenda of PDP in the state,” noting that it might be the wish of detractors that Mr Ikonne’s absence will linger.

He said there was a time when he was sick, “permutations changed and people were allocating positions to themselves.”

“I’m sure they even appropriated my wife to themselves,” the governor stated.

Speculations about Mr Ikonne’s health challenge became rife following his sudden disappearance from the public, including PDP events.

(NAN)