I'm Still In The Governorship Race, Says Sekibo

Against backdrop of the report in one of the national dailies that he has withdrawn from the governorship race, the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Rivers State, Dr Abiye Sekibo has assured party faithful and his numerous supporters in the state that his candidacy is unshaken as he is not only still in the governorship race but holds the strong conviction that he will emerge victorious in the April 26, 2011 polls.

Unruffled, Dr Sekibo urged his teeming supporters and party members to disregard the report and turn out en masse to vote for the ACN on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

In a statement endorsed by Jerry Needam,the Director of Media and Publicity and Communications of Abiye Campaign Organisation, regretted that “the report was a fabrication of a charlatan who would stay in Abuja and report Port Harcourt based on sources in their bedrooms without caring to hear from other sides named in the gossips, and wondered how the reporter learnt about a ceremony scheduled for the Rivers State capital to announce his alleged withdrawal from the governorship race without confirmation from him, the one directly involved in the peddled rumour”.

While condemning indulgence in junk journalism, Dr Sekibo stressed that it would only amount to an unrealizable dream for anyone to conceive and propagate the idea that he would withdraw from a race in which he only has to conclude his winning lap.

The former transport minister said he has no reason to turn back on his quest, considering especially what intrigues and tribulations he has faced at the hands of undemocratic forces in the Rotimi Amaechi-led government of Rivers State, recalling the closure of his campaign office less than three weeks after he commissioned it, the various violent attacks targeted at his campaign train during campaigns and the fear-driven inducements and fraudulent practices of the PDP during elections in the state. Dr Sekibo noted that Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s victory at the presidential polls is one good reason why a humble, people-loving and prudent candidate like himself should be voted for as governor of Rivers State as the issue is more about the candidate than the political party involved. He advised Rivers people to vote for him and the ACN on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 during the governorship and State House of Assembly elections and reap a bountiful harvest of democratic governance which only the ACN can guarantee in Rivers State.

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt