The war drums in Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has continued unabated with State Chairman of the party, Barr. Nnamdi Anyaehie slamming key and critical stakeholders in the party.
The PDP in Imo State have been badly polarized with two State Executives laying claims to the leadership of the party in the State.
The Charles Ezekwem State leadership had last week suspended Anyaehie and nine others citing anti party activities.
But at the weekend at a press conference in Owerri, Anyaehie fired back.
In a speech he delivered at the conference titled “ The True Position of State leadership of PDP in Imo State chapter” he went memory lane to prove why he leads the authentic executives of the party in Imo State.
Part of his speech reads “That under the H.E. Senator Ali Modu Sheriff’s Administration, congresses of Imo State PDP were held at the Wards, LGAs and State levels and the results were approved by the National Executive Committee (NEC) in its 71st meeting before the National Convention of 21st May, 2016. The State Executive Committee so approved and inaugurated in Imo State is headed by Sir Barr. Nnamdi Anyaehie as State Chairman. There was never a time within the time table for Congresses in 2016 that either Barr. Charles Ezekwem or any other person was elected as State Chairman”
He continued “ That the Anyaehie leadership has been administering the affairs of the party from the State Secretariat at No 47 Okigwe Road Owerri, Imo State. This registered office of the party has always had Party Flags and decorations since the tenure of H.E. Governor Ikedi Godson Ohakim. The leadership, stakeholders and membership have not at any time discussed or agreed to relocate the state secretariat of our Great Party to any other address. The so called “new office” is actually the personal campaign office of the Chief Promoter of the “Ezekwem group” hitherto proposed as state office of one of the newly registered political parties where the ship of this group would have berthed except for the Supreme Court judgement in favour of the National Caretaker Committee (NCC)”
“It is common knowledge that this group led by Chief Charles Babatunde Ezekwem was cobbled together on 08/08/16 by one man anxious to be the owner of Peoples Democratic Party in Imo State and whose angry fixation is to be an unchallenged Gubernatorial Candidate for 2019 Elections. This was long after the conclusion of the relevant Ward, LGA, Senatorial District, State and Zonal (South East) congresses of our Great Party in the country between April and May 2016″
“This one sided show erroneously called “a State Congress” of 08/08/17 was because of the dispute over national leadership of our Great Party arising from the then disputed national convention held in Port Harcourt on 21/05/17 and the subsequent factionalization of the Party across the country. It was in the wake of this dichotomy that this group was put together by their “master” who albeit was a selfish supporter of one side of the disputants. It is unarguable that since then, every absurd effort has been made to legitimize this illegality to no avail including “patch patch resolutions here and there” simply because legally you cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand”. These dreamers and their master erroneously believe that they can erase the subsisting constitutional decisions of the previous national leadership” he stated
Anyaehie did not spare a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and 2015 Imo PDP Governorship Candidate, Rt Hon. Emeka Ihedioha.
He said “We must recall that since the unfortunate loss of the 2015 Governorship Election in Imo State, our former Candidate WHO EMERGED IN CLEARLY CONTROVERSIAL CIRCUMSTANCES instead of being a shield for the defence of our party, has irredeemably become a sword for decapitating the solidarity, unity, peace and progress of the PDP in Imo State.
“Our great party is apparently confronted with a situation where most of her members except her former Governorship Candidate appreciate the circumstances that occasioned our loss of the Governorship election albeit after posting resounding victories in the Presidential election; 3 (three) Senatorial Districts elections and 8 (eight) out of 10 (ten) available seats of House of Representatives elections barely a fortnight before the doomed Governorship election.
” We also know that a lot of our valuable stakeholders, co-governorship aspirants before the Governorship Election angrily left our party to her eventual fate on account of the politics of exclusion, intransigence and Emperor Nero tendencies of our former flag bearer who willfully neglected to make necessary sacrifices in order to carry all along.
” That while we remain sympathetic to the plight of our former flag bearer in losing the 2015 Governorship election and subsequent litigation over same, we vehemently deprecate his now monotonous and ceaseless cry over spilled milk like an infant. We reject his continued unjustifiable divisive activities against our party on whose platform he had won elections thrice into the House of Representatives and served the nation as the Deputy Speaker for four years.
” A situation where our Party is reduced to the butt of jokes due to the penchant of our former Governorship Candidate’s “cry cry baby” with his usual but embarrassing sing song of whining against notable leaders of our Party as his regular narrative and banter at Burial Ceremonies; Marriage Ceremonies, Community activities, Church Synod lectures and countless press interviews has become worrisome and a cause to agitate the sensibilities of reasonable members of the party and society on the faithfulness and gratitude of a lucky individual who providence had honoured with more than a fair share of the PDP cake.
“It has presently gotten to a situation where this gentleman assumes the role of State Chairman, Sole Administrator and “the be all and end all” of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Imo State who decides who will be a member, how to be a member and when to be a member of our Great Party in Imo State. In a condescending manner, he has also announced that he will leave the party in 2019 and we ask WHY NOT NOW? Since the political party he wishes to join (All Progressives Congress (APC) and BUHARI) no doubt would prefer him to join them with his magic wand of winning elections before the next round of elections in Nigeria in 2019”
“We are convinced that there must be a limit to this unfounded rascality, impunity and near fanatical obsession with a gubernatorial ambition. It is unarguable that this Great Party has tolerated enough of this predilection of advertising his predicament to limits beyond the paranoid” he declared
The party chairman said “We cannot continue adinfinitum to tolerate the deliberate attempt to swing or mislead our teeming members particularly in Owerri Senatorial District out of our Party into a new political Party simply because we sympathize with the near depressive mood of our former flag bearer. We must reiterate that our Great Party is superior to any member despite how much influence fate may have granted him or his ambition. No member is above the party’s disciplinary mechanism no matter how grandiose selfish schemes may become”