Enugu Assembly Restates Support For Jonathan

The Enugu State House of Assembly has restated its endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2011 general elections.

Mr Eugene Odo, the Speaker of the House, made the clarification on Sunday in Enugu while reacting to media reports that the House had endorsed former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

Odo said the legislators were solidly behind Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo.

“Before now, the Enugu State Government and of course the House of Assembly as a PDP state had earlier endorsed President Jonathan and will not go back on our decision to support the President.

“Personally, I am the South-East Coordinator of Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation for legislators in the South-East,” he told newsmen.

“I have gone round the zone with my colleagues from other states to seek support for the President, so how can I turn back to denounce him?”

Odo expressed regret that Atiku’s visit to the state had been used by some “political detractors” to blackmail the Assembly.

“I want to state categorically that at no point did Enugu House of Assembly endorse Atiku; rather we advised him to play the game by the rules.

“We are being misquoted by the members of the press. People can watch the video for clarification.

“As you can see, Atiku visited Enugu and Anambra the same day but that of Enugu is generating controversy because of political detractors,” the speaker said.

On reports that the Assembly was being intimidated to support President Jonathan, Mr Marcel Njeze, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, said there was no truth in the reports.

“There is no need for me to react to such reports because everybody knows that members of the Enugu State House of Assembly and the PDP family in Enugu State have endorsed President Jonathan.

“Come January 13, all delegates from Enugu State will vote for President Jonathan during the primaries and afterwards.

“It is rather unfortunate that some people are politicising the visit of Atiku,” Njeze said.

All the 23 members of the House were present at the news briefing.