Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has lauded the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ward congresses in the state as a huge success, noting that the process was peaceful, free, fair, and credible.
This was even as the Chairman of the five-man PDP Ward Congresses Electoral Committee for Enugu State, Toni Iyoha, who monitored the exercise across the 260 electoral wards of the state, commended party faithful for the peaceful and transparent exercise, saying the strength of the party was at the grassroot.
Governor Mbah, who was elated at the huge turnout at the congresses across the state, said it was a confirmation that the few setbacks suffered by the PDP in the last general elections were an exception and not the norm, assuring that the party would continue to consolidate on the successes recorded so far.
The governor stated this while fielding questions from news men at his Owo Ward, in Nkanu East LGA, where he participated in the congress.
He said, “We are truly delighted not just because of the outcome and turnout of what we witnessed here today, but also the way and manner the people conducted themselves, especially as they acknowledged that this is a family affair.
“This is what we represent as a party. We believe in entrenching democracy at the grassroot level because the strength of our party is determined by our visibility at the grassroot; and the number of people that came out attests to it.
“We are equally not surprised that we have a lot of people, who are thronging into the PDP family to become members. Since the advent of the Fourth Republic, Enugu has been a PDP state. We have enjoyed over the last 25 years the leadership of the state and we know that we have been better for it as people.”
Also speaking to newsmen after monitoring the exercise at Owo Ward, Chairman of the PDP Ward Congress Electoral Committee, Iyoha, said what he saw during his monitoring of the exercise with his team across the state was a testimony that the people of the state were happy with the PDP and the Mbah Administration.
"From what I witnessed, it showed that PDP in Enugu is built bottom up from the nucleus and its stronghold lies within ward level.
"I have no doubt in my mind that PDP will remain strong in Enugu State. What we saw today, people were allowed to test their popularity in an open balloting.
“Also, the turnout and the interactions we had with the grassroots showed that the people are very happy with their governor," Iyoha concluded.
