The Social Democratic Party, SDP, has said the candidacy of Sir Okey Ezeh in Imo State is not under any form of controversy, adding that the process that led to the emergence of Sir Ezeh is in tandem with the provisions of the Party’s guidelines for the nomination of candidates.

This clarification was made by a National Leader in the Party who spoke to our correspondent while reacting to a misleading headline in soft-sell Owerri-based newspaper which drew an imaginary battlefield and alleged that the governorship ticket of the SDP in Imo is in dispute.

“You can take my word to the bank: Okey Ezeh became our candidate through a widely acknowledged transparent process. First, the Imo State Chapter of the Party failed to organise a direct primary election as the guidelines stipulated. They gathered at a hotel in Owerri and stage-managed something very absurd. We cancelled that particular exercise because it was an aberration and opted for the second alternative in the guidelines, which is consensus. We invited Okey Ezeh and three others who then purchased our nomination forms. We screened and eventually Okey Ezeh defeated the three others to become the consensus candidate of the Party in Imo State,” he narrated.

He further stated that, “We are aware that there are some persons within the Party who are sponsored by the PDP to distract Okey Ezeh. This is the height of inferiority complex. They should stop hiding behind anyone to distract our candidate. If they think they are popular, let them meet us at the polls. Anyone who is pretending to be in court against the SDP or against Okey Ezeh is just a mole planted by the PDP to distract us, and at the appropriate time we shall deal with the person decisively.”

In a similar reaction, the Imo State Publicity Secretary of the Party, Chilos Godsent, has issued a stern warning to all those who are dividing the Party to stop forthwith. He went ahead to ban members of the Party from writing anything misleading about the state of affairs in the party, even as he decried the activities of some persons who are sponsored by the opposition to scuttle the electoral chances of the Party.