Why we aborted Araraume’s guber ambition in 2007 – Ahmadu Ali
Former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Ali, has explained why the national secretariat of party under his chairmanship stopped Ifeanyi Araraume, a former Senator, from becoming Imo State Governor in 2007.
He said the party took the action because he (Araraume) took the PDP to court in the build up to the general elections at the time.
Ali made this revelation in Owerri, Imo State, at a reconciliation meeting organised by the PDP national leadership to resolve conflicts in the state chapter of the party.
He said Araraume did not exhaust the opportunities available within the party to seek redress when he was substituted with Charles Ugwu for the governorship election in 2007 before going to court.
Ali admitted that even though Araraume won the governorship primaries, he should have used internal grievance redress mechanism within the party before rushing to court to challenge the “wisdom” of the party in substituting him with a man who won only three votes in the primaries.
Ali’s explanation came following a consensus of views at the meeting that the problem of Imo PDP began when the party denied Araraume the opportunity to become Governor despite the fact that the Supreme Court had upheld his victory in the primaries held before the election.
Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday evening, Araraume said after the primaries, Ali sent him a text message for a breakfast meeting with the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and all the PDP candidates who emerged victorious at the governorship primaries in the states.
According to him, the invitation was a clear indication that he won the primary and was the legitimate candidate of the party.
Araraume said he went to court to prove to the world that he did not commit any criminal offence that could make the party take such unfair and drastic action against him despite the hard work, energy and resources he invested into the primary.
He added that he would remain loyal to the party in spite of the unjust treatment he suffered.
A chieftain of the PDP and former state Commissioner for Works, Peter Orji, stated that Ali’s confession at the meeting had proved to the world that Ararume did not commit any criminal offence that could make the PDP deny him the benefits of his victory in the primary.
He appealed to the PDP to do justice to Ararume in 2015 by allowing him emerge candidate of the party since, according to him, Ararume remains a popular governorship contender in Imo State PDP.
He said the party took the action because he (Araraume) took the PDP to court in the build up to the general elections at the time.
Ali made this revelation in Owerri, Imo State, at a reconciliation meeting organised by the PDP national leadership to resolve conflicts in the state chapter of the party.
He said Araraume did not exhaust the opportunities available within the party to seek redress when he was substituted with Charles Ugwu for the governorship election in 2007 before going to court.
Ali admitted that even though Araraume won the governorship primaries, he should have used internal grievance redress mechanism within the party before rushing to court to challenge the “wisdom” of the party in substituting him with a man who won only three votes in the primaries.
Ali’s explanation came following a consensus of views at the meeting that the problem of Imo PDP began when the party denied Araraume the opportunity to become Governor despite the fact that the Supreme Court had upheld his victory in the primaries held before the election.
Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday evening, Araraume said after the primaries, Ali sent him a text message for a breakfast meeting with the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and all the PDP candidates who emerged victorious at the governorship primaries in the states.
According to him, the invitation was a clear indication that he won the primary and was the legitimate candidate of the party.
Araraume said he went to court to prove to the world that he did not commit any criminal offence that could make the party take such unfair and drastic action against him despite the hard work, energy and resources he invested into the primary.
He added that he would remain loyal to the party in spite of the unjust treatment he suffered.
A chieftain of the PDP and former state Commissioner for Works, Peter Orji, stated that Ali’s confession at the meeting had proved to the world that Ararume did not commit any criminal offence that could make the PDP deny him the benefits of his victory in the primary.
He appealed to the PDP to do justice to Ararume in 2015 by allowing him emerge candidate of the party since, according to him, Ararume remains a popular governorship contender in Imo State PDP.
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