Stella Oduah heads list of five PDP candidates cleared to seek its Anambra governorship ticket

FORMER aviation minister Senator Stella Oduah heads the list of five candidates who have been cleared by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stand in its primaries ahead of the Anambra State governorship elections on November 18.

In three months time, Anambrans go to the polls to elect a new governor in what will be a three-way fight between incumbent Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the PDP and the All Progressives Congress. Yesterday, the PDP's Anambra State chapter cleared five aspirants to participate in the August 19 primary election.

Those cleared include Senator Stella Oduah, Lynda Ikpeazu, Dr Patrick Ubah, John Emeka and Dr Alex Obiogolu. However, the party stopped Akolisa Ufodike from participating in the exercise for holding Nigerian and Canadian citizenships while it held on to the clearance of another aspirant Oseloka Obaze, pending the decision of the party’s national executive committee.

Adamu Waziri, the chairman of the screening panel and a former minister of police affairs, revealed that Mr Ufodike was barred based on the provision of Section 182 (1) of Nigeria’s constitution. This section states that anyone aspiring to become a governor of a state must only hold Nigerian citizenship.