BY NATIONAL PANEL REPORTERS
Thousands of Governor Dave Umahi's supporters in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, yesterday staged a solidarity rally for him and warned the member representing Afikpo North/South Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Chief Iduma Igariwey not to contemplate taking over forcefully the leadership of the state
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had last Tuesday ordered Governor Umahi and his Deputy, Chief Eric Igwe to vacate their offices immediately for defecting to APC and urged PDP to nominate its members that will replace them.
The PDP immediately nominated Igariwey and former Caretaker Chairman of the PDP in Ebonyi State, Chief Fred Udeogu.
But thousands of people of Afikpo North Council Area, where Igariwey hails from, in a rally, warned him yesterday not to attempt stepping into the state to unseat Governor Umahi.
They opined that Umahi must remain in office till 2023.
One of them, Chief Ukie Ezeali, a Commissioner in the state, called on Igariwey to wait till 2023 and contest election into the governorship position rather than coming from nowhere to forcefully take over the position from the sitting Governor, Umahi.
He vowed that every attempt to remove Umahi would not be allowed.
"I am from the same place with one of our sons who is attempting to take over the governorship position of this state and we are saying no to that. We have a democratically elected Governor, His Excellency Dave Umahi and he must finish his tenure the way others did. No one can remove Umahi through the backdoor. If anybody to be governor, the person should wait till our governor finishes his tenure in,2023", he said.
Another stakeholder in the area, Amuche Otunta, said it was Governor Umahi who brought development to Afikpo through infrastructural projects and made Igariwey be a House of Representatives member, wondering why he schemes to unseat the sitting governor.
"The worst thing on earth is ungratefulness and when you are ungrateful, good things will not come to you. It is Dave Umahi that made them be where they are in a leadership position and they are after him, it won't work because our land will not accept it", she said.
