Abia Speaker washes off hands from 2023 guber race

The Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Chinedum Orji has washed his hands off the recent rumours making waves in the state that he is interested in the 2023 governorship race in the state.

Orji, who is serving his second term in the State House of Assembly is also rumoured to be eyeing to succeed the current Umuahia/Ikwuano Federal Constituency lawmaker; Sam Onuigbo come 2023.  

But his Chief Press Secretary, Jude Ndukwe in a Press Release, described the rumors that his boss was aspiring for governorship slot in the state in 2013 as fake.

According to Ndukwe, the news is the handiwork of his boss’s detractors who were deliberately spreading such falsehood just to be politically relevant, adding that the commitment of the 7^th Assembly is to ensure that they (Lawmakers) repay Abians the trust they had on them (Lawmakers) through the ballot. 

Ndukwe in the release while quoting his boss said, “My attitude towards politics is same as my decision in 2015 when I turned down the offer of being Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly.

“My detractors who are pushing these false narratives in a bid to be politically relevant, or seeking to be governor, should seek relevance through positive means and not by continually propagating falsehood against me in the name of a non-existent 2023 governorship ambition. I am not interested.

“My pursuit of legislative excellence with my colleagues in the Assembly should not be mistaken for ambition but only a drive to repay the people who put their trust in me through the ballot. My detractors should stop being afraid. I am not contesting the governorship with them”, the statement concluded.

The Nation recalled that the Speaker had on several occasions including the day Governor Okezie Ikpeazu presented the 2020 budget estimate that the leadership of the 7^th Assembly would help the government to succeed.

This is even as Orji also informed Ikpeazu that the various oversight functions of the lawmakers are not for a witch-hunt.

A Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) source who pleaded not to be named said that though it is too early to speculate who flies the flag of the party as governor in 2023.

The source who said that he cannot rule out the wishes of the people prevailing, at last, added that it is expected that the party would be zoning the gubernatorial slot of the party to Abia North Senatorial District if the Abia Charter of Equity is anything to go by.