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Comrade Ibuchukwu Ezike who is the Enugu State Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party has confirmed that the Private School Proprietor, Mr. Ernest Ike Ugwu still remains the valid Senatorial candidate of the Labour Party for Enugu North district.
Rumours and innuendos had recently surfaced that Ugwu who had won the LP primary election to emerge the Senate candidate for Enugu North Senatorial district (Nsukka zone) had traded off the ticket to another aspirant for a substitute candidate
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But Ugwu had clarified to Newsmen that the information was not true, adding that he has not been approached directly for such substitution, except by proxy, which he said he even refused the proxy such demand.
Ugwu is expected to throw a challenge to the candidacy of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who emerged the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senatorial candidate for Enugu North in the 2023 Election.
Speaking on the authenticity of Ugwu as the LP candidate, Ezike dismissed the rumour, noting that it was such rumours that has been making the rounds for most of the party’s candidates in other positions, particularly it’s Governorship candidate in Enugu state.
Ezike said: “Our candidate for Senate in Enugu North is still Ernest Ikechukwu Ugwu. Anybody is entitled to say whatever he or she feels but if you go to INEC, it’s still Iyke Ugwu. If you go the National Secretariat of the party he is the person. As the publicity Secretary of Labour Party in Enugu State, I’ve not been told that any other person has taken over. It’s just like the Governorship candidate issue when they made a lot of permutations. People can say anything but the true position is what we are talking about.
“Ugwu’s name was submitted to INEC shortly after the party primaries before June 15 and his name is still there. We’ve not been told that any other person has replaced him or that he has relinquished his candidacy to another person. You can also confirm from him if he has given any other person his candidature for Enugu North Senatorial district. Unless he wrote the Party and INEC withdrawing his candidature and if he did that, we have not been communicated.
“Even if the whole of Nsukka people are coming to the party to substitute any candidate, that cannot be done except by the candidate himself relinquishes it to another person by himself. It doesn’t matter if everybody is coming to the party, you must discuss with the candidate and that’s why I referred you to the candidate to find out from him, but for us here in the party, Ike Ugwu is still the candidate of Labour Party for Enugu North Senatorial district.”
When contact Ike Ugwu said he remained the candidate. He said “Nobody approach me to relinquish the ticket. The propaganda is going round and my supporters are worried. Nobody has approached me but they approached my friends but I’ve not seen anybody physically coming to talk to me and even if they do I will not relinquish my ticket because I am confident of victory.”
