Abia Guber Race: Ex-Aides Challenge Orji

Governor Theodore Orji would face some of his former aides in the Abia Governorship contest in April as 17 political parties have fielded 255 candidates to vie for the37 electives positions the State.

In the battle for the Governorship, Orji would contend with his immediate past Deputy Governor, Comrade Chris Akomas, and a former Commissioner, Prince Paul Ikonne, who served as Commissioner for Works and Transport in the present Government, as opponents.

Akomas is the Governorship candidate of Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), the platform on which Orji was elected governor in 2007, while Ikonne is the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) standard bearer.

Orji’s kinsman, Hon. Stanley Ugochukwu Ohajuruka, the Labour Party Candidate, currently a member of House of Representatives, representing Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency is also in the race to unseat the Governor, including Ochiagha Reagan Ufomba, the APGA standard bearer.

The office of the  Governorship and his Deputy, three senatorial seats, eight House of Representatives slots and 24 seats of the House of Assembly would be up for grabs during the polls.

Going by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) list of candidates published in Umuahia 25 candidates are vying for he position of the Governor and his deputies; 22 for the three senatorial seats; 52 for the eight House of Representatives slots and 156 for the 24 seats of the House of Assembly.

Governor Theodore Orji would do battle with 14 other contenders who are angling for the coveted Governorship seat.

Interestingly, most of the Governorship candidates are former aides of the governor or had served during the regime of former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu.

However, the list of Congress for Positive Change (CPC), including the name of its standard bearer, Chief Ako Atuloma, was conspicuously missing as at press time.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) fielded the maximum 37 candidates for all the elective positions, while All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Labour Party (LP) have 35 candidates each, with Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Community Party of Nigeria (CPN) fielding 31 and 15 candidates respectively.

The list further revealed that Alliance for Democracy (AD) has only one candidate gunning for the Governorship without a Deputy, while the Accord Party has three candidates, one for Senate and the remaining for House of Representatives.

The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) only fielded two candidates for the Governorship position and His deputy; Change Advocacy Party (CAP) has two candidates for House of Reps and House of Assembly, just as National Con