The death of Prof Uche Ikonne, the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, has thrown up  questions regarding who will replace him as candidate.

This follows INEC’s immediate directive to the PDP to conduct another primary election within 14 days, following the passing of Ikonne in the morning of  Wednesday, January 25, 2023, exactly 44 days to the March 11 governorship elections in 32 of Nigeria’s 36 states.

Four off-season states will not join the March 11 governorship elections because previous court-sanctioned disruptions of election results had handed them different political calendars. The off-season election states are Imo and Anambra in the Southeast,  Ekiti and Osun in Southwest, and Edo in South-South.

No state in the North currently has an off-season electoral calendar for governorship election.

Natural permutations within Abia State late Wednesday evening was that Barrister Okey Igwe, Ikonne’s running mate for the 11 March 2023 election, should seamlessly mount the  saddle. But the odds are really against him; and this is why:

Often, there is already a legal hurdle making it difficult for the PDP in the state to move Barrister Igwe up the next rung of the ladder. Again, doing so would torpedo the State’s delicate zoning arrangement. This has sealed the fate of the deputy governorship candidate of the PDP, even though the Electoral Act (2022) is silent on automatic succession where a substantive candidate dies before a scheduled election.

As provided for in Section 34(3)(A&B) of the amended Electoral Act 2022, a deputy candidate can automatically ascend the ladder if the substantive candidate died during the voting process or before the announcement of a winner.

Specifically, American trained Barrister Igwe (49), who is currently a  legislator in the state said will not  automatically succeed Ikonne as governorship  candidate in the March 11 election.

Section 33(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) stipulates that, where a governorship candidate dies or withdraws before an election, his party must replace him through a fresh primary.

INEC’s Wednesday directive notwithstanding,  the provision of Section 33(1) of the amended Act compels the Abia State PDP to present a new governorship candidate to INEC on or before 14 days of Ikonne’s death.

This presupposes that the  fresh primary must hold on or before  February 8, 2023 to select and present a new candidate to electoral body.

Again, from the foregoing, it would appear that the odds are against Barrister Igwe based on the rotation arrangement in the state.  Should Abia State PDP sustain its zoning arrangement, deputy candidate Igwe  is out of the equation, which had ceded the governorship slot to Late Ikonne’s Abia South Senatorial District..

In the light of the above scenario, Igwe will still stand as deputy, to be paired with a new candidate harvested  from Abia South District.

Prof Ikonne’s son, Chikezie, had  announced his father’s death on January 25 , followed by Governor Okezie  Ikpeazu’s confirmation of the incident and immediate suspension of all PDP campaign activities in the State.
Chikezie said his father died by 4.00 a.m. at the National Hospital Abuja.

“He was recovering after taking proper treatment in the United Kingdom but relapsed a few days ago leading to multiple cardiac arrests from which he didn’t recover,” he said.

He promised to release burial details after deliberations by the family.

Late Ikonne, was a  professor of optometry who recently  retired as Vice Chancellor of the Abia State University before joining politics in Abia State.

Seen as Governor Okezie’s choice,  his candidacy  was met with the stoutest resistance until the governor reportedly pulled through by ‘fiat’.