The sudden death of Uche Ikonne, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Abia, has brought Governor Okezie Ikpeazu back to the drawing board in his quest to determine who succeeds him at the March 11 gubernatorial election in the state.
Ikonne, a professor of optometry who emerged as PDP’s Abia governorship candidate in May 2022, died of “multiple cardiac arrests” on Wednesday — exactly 45 days to the gubernatorial election.
Ikonne had been absent during recent political activities of the Abia PDP, resulting in agitations about his whereabouts and calls for his health status to be made public.
His death will require the Abia PDP to hold a fresh primary election within 14 days to nominate another governorship candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
