The Chairman and governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Ebonyi State, Splendour Eze, has said he was still contesting the 2023 governorship elections in the state.
This was as he maintained that he didn't write any letter signalling his withdrawal from the race.
He added that leaders of the party forged his signature in connivance with a former gubernatorial aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, in Ebonyi State, to scuttle his ambition.
He stated this in an interview, in Abakaliki, on Tuesday.
According to the LP chieftain, the former APC gubernatorial aspirant, allegedly approached the national leadership of the LP with N200,000,000.00 'gift' to allow him to take over the party structure in the state.
Stressing he was the authentic governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the state, he said the judgement of a Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki upheld his candidature, in August this year.
He said, "The Federal High Court Abakaliki judgement in my favour, did not come as a surprise to me, because the new Electoral Act made it clear that a validly nominated candidate must personally withdraw and personally submit the same withdrawal letter to the national leadership of the party. In my case, it is different because I did not withdraw.
"The national chairman, the national secretary, the organising secretary and the legal adviser all forged my signature and wrote a withdrawal letter, on my behalf without my consent.
"Arc. Edward Nkwegu, was still in the APC when I conducted the primaries in Ebonyi State. He (Arc. Edward Nkwegu) contested primary elections in APC and got eight votes. He failed woefully. He thereafter went to the national chairman through the organising secretary and bribed them to dissolve my executive members so that he will have the opportunity to control the party structure in Ebonyi State.
"This deal was to the tune of Two Hundred Million Naira (N200, 000,000.00) only. Part-payment of One Hundred Million Naira (N100, 000, 000.00) only was paid. With this development, the national chairman of the Labour Party became so mad to the extent that he forgot he is a lawyer and then soiled his hands. Let me use this medium to commend our judiciary for being the last hope of a common man."
Efforts to get the APC chieftain, Arc. Edward Nkwegu, for reaction, on Tuesday, failed.
He didn't pick up calls from our correspondent or respond to several messages sent to his mobile as of the time of filing this report, on Tuesday.
