Why PDP Screening Panel Disqualified Ozigbo, Two Others – Report

Valentine Ozigbo, Chuma Nzeribe and Obinna Uzoh were on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, disqualified by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Screening Committee for Anambra State National Assembly aspirants.

This was revealed in a report of the committee on the outcome of the screening exercise sighted by Prime Business Africa.

According to the report, there were nine aspirants for senatorial seat out of which three were not cleared; while House of Representatives aspirants were 49 but none was disqualified.

The report indicated that Ozigbo who was the governorship candidate of the PDP in the Anambra 2021 gubernatorial election, was not cleared because he failed to submit the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms at the due date.

The report said Ozigbo told the screening committee that he was awaiting a Supreme Court judgement regarding the Anambra governorship election and was hoping that if the election was annulled he would become the governor, and therefore concluded on not submitting the senatorial forms at the specified time, only for him to do so after the judgment upheld the election.

“He told the committee that he was awaiting the Supreme Court Judgment in SC/CV/240/2022 and SC /CV/241/2022. That if the Supreme Court annuls the election he would become the Governor. On that basis, he concluded that there would be no need to submit the Senatorial Form within the specified time.

“On 27 April 2022, the Supreme Court now upheld the contemplated litigation.
“Unfortunately, by the time he submitted the Form, he was already out of time,” the report revealed about Ozigbo’s disqualification from the senatorial seat contest.

The other two aspirants Chief Chuma Nzeribe and Dr. Obinna Uzoh were disqualified based on alleged perjury committed during documentation, in other words, being economic with truth in the information they supplied about them in the nomination forms submitted.

Nzeribe, a former House of Representatives member was said to have failed to indicate in the nomination form that he has court trial which was still ongoing.

The report reproduced excerpts of the court order which showed that he was standing trial and had jumped bail leading to issuance of a warrant of arrest by court on 21 March, 2022 for him to be rearrested.

The committee equally observed inconsistencies in his name in different documents submitted to the screening committee.

“There are too many inconsistencies in the name of the Aspirant. Unfortunately, there is no Affidavit to reconcile all these fundamental discrepancies. In the forms filled, he has the name: Hon. Nzeribe Chukwumaeze Marcellinus. In the documents attached, there are conflicts,” the committee observed.

For Dr. Obinna Uzoh, a former governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in Anambra 2021 election, the report accused him of deliberately misinforming the committee through the nomination form that he has never been tried by any law court when evidence showed that he has had court trial in the past.

The committee said in the report that such act amounts to lying on oath thereby breaching the Oath Declaration clause clearly stated in the nomination form which states that if the aspirant knowing fully well, supplies false information will be automatically disqualified from contesting.

Other six aspirants cleared for senate include Senator Stella Odua, Senator Uche Ekwunife, Hon. Tony Nwoye, Prince Okechukwu John Emeka Chief Chris Chukwunedum Uba and Mrs. Ezeabikwa Peace.