All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), governorship candidate in Abia State in the 2023 election, Professor Greg Ibe, has denied being sponsored by the former governor of the state, Senator Theodore Orji.
Ibe said he doesn’t believe in godfatherism and has no one as godfather.
Reports are widespread in the state that Ibe who was a former governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, before he defected to APGA, is backed by former governor.
It is also alleged that the former governor and his son, Chinedum who is the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, has made huge financial contributions to Ibe’s ambition.
Director of Communication and Strategy of Prof. Gregory governorship campaign organization, Rev. Sleek Ogwo, who dismissed the allegations as unfounded, stated that Ibe has no relationship with the former governor since he resigned from the PDP on March 30, 2022.
Ibe disclosed that he left the PDP for APGA because Governor Okezie Ikpeazu thwarted the zoning system which has been the party’s tradition since 1999.
According to him, the PDP also forced him to agree to some terms which he declined.
“Let me categorically state that there is no truth in the allegation. It is totally unfounded. In the first instance, Senator Theodore Orji is of the PDP while Prof Gregory Ibe is of APGA. He resigned from the PDP on 30th March, 2022 and joined APGA on 4th April, 2022. Why did he resign? He resigned because the way things were being handled in the PDP at that time was not very proper. He tried to get the party to follow the part of zoning which has been the tradition of PDP since 1999, but the present regime under Governor Okezie Ikpeazu decided to thwart that zoning formula and favoured Abia central. And when Prof. Ibe discovered that there was a hidden agenda and he wouldn’t be given a fair opportunity of contesting the primary election, he had to resign.
“And when he left PDP, he left everything about the party. There is no vestige of him in PDP. He went to APGA and contested election and emerged the candidate of the party on May 29, 2022. Beyond his relationship with the former governor when he was in PDP, he has nothing to do with the party. But we are conscious of the fact that the government of the day is trying to hang a bad name on him in the spirit of destroying him. That’s why they have been fabricating these kinds of lies. There is no relationship between the senator and Prof. Ibe. If they are afraid that he has been sponsoring huge intervention programmes like the free medical outreach, then they should try and find out who he is.”
Ibe further stated that he has the capacity to prosecute his governorship ambition without seeking support from anybody, stressing that his detractors are only afraid of his growing support for his ambition from the people of the state.
“I don’t know how many from Abia state that have a quoted company at the New York stock exchange like Prof. Ibe. I don’t know how many people in the state that has the reputation of consulting for ECOWAS nations like Prof. Ibe. I don’t know how many Abia people are World Bank consultants like him. I don’t know how many of them are rated as consultants in facilities in every federal university in Nigeria today. He built the science laboratories in most federal universities in Nigeria. Till date, he is the one that trains lecturers of the colleges of engineering across the federation in his private university.
“So, if they marvel about the source of his wealth, they should go and dig a little about him. He doesn’t make noise, but he has enough resources to prosecute his campaign. He is somebody that doesn’t believe in godfatherism. This is one of the reasons why he left PDP. They were trying to force him to agree to certain terms and he said no because he doesn’t believe in godfatherism.
“In PDP, people emerge governors on the platform of godfathers that they represent. The present governor who is behind this rumour emerged from a godfather. So, this is why he feels that anybody that wants to become governor must do so through a godfather. Maybe, Senator Orji was a good godfather to him, that’s why he is donating him to Prof. Ibe. But the truth of the matter is that Prof. Ibe doesn’t have a godfather and doesn’t believe in one. He is that person that has functioned and made several achievements through the grace of God alone.”
