Imo PDP group calls for NWC’s sack, tackles party’s governorship candidate

By Ori Martins

The crisis tearing apart the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Imo State is yet to be abated as a group known as the Imo PDP Critical Stakeholders, has again called on the Board of Trustees, BoT, to dissolve the National Working Committee, NWC, of the umbrella party.

For the second time in one month, the Imo PDP Critical Stakeholders, in a worded letter to the chairman of the BoT of the party, Senator Adolphus Wabara, blamed all the ills ravaging the foundation of the party, particularly in Imo State, on the failure of the NWC and called for its immediate dissolution.

The group also urged the BoT to ensure it uses its good office as the national conscience of the PDP to effect the resignation of its national secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu otherwise known as Samdaddy on the grounds that he is also the party’s governorship candidate for the November 11, 2023 election in the state.

In a release made available to journalists in Owerri and signed by the spokesperson of the group, the Imo PDP Critical Stakeholders, gave reasons the NWC must be sacked. According to it, “Conscious of the gross ineptitude, as well as the clearly unpardonable cumulative poor performance of the present National Working Committee (NWC) of our great party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in the last two years of its existence especially during the 2023 General Elections, it has become obvious that the NWC as presently constituted, has completely exhausted its capability and capacity to manage the affairs of the party. It therefore becomes imperative, even to point of urgent national emergency for the survival of the Nigerian democracy, for a new, vibrant, dedicated, purposeful, and visionary NWC to be put in place to replace this wobbling, non visionary and invariably self – serving NWC”.

The spokesperson stated that not just in Imo State, but PDP members across the country are calling and agitating for the sack of the present NWC. “It is saying the obvious to reiterate that an overwhelming majority of our party members across the length and breadth of this country are yearning for true party management and leadership which the current NWC unfortunately is unable to offer, no matter how long it stays in office.
If our great party must be given this new lease of life and a fresh breath, the present NWC members must be promptly dissolved”, Akunnakwe enthused.

The political pressure group noted that it was the failings of NWC that made PDP, once the biggest party in the Black World was currently made to look like a smitten kitten. “For us, the Imo State Critical Stakeholders, it is apparently unfathomable how our great PDP, once the biggest party in the black world, most admired in Africa and most followed in Nigeria has unimaginably been allowed to descend from its olympian heights of greatness to the lowest ebb of lack-lustre performance.

“We have followed dejectedly, how our hitherto respected party, with all its intimidating credentials and gracious appeal, is systematically being annihilated by lower forces it previously trampled upon”, the stakeholders revealed.

It added that “After critically analyzing the sordid affairs which are currently suffocating and dismantling our great party, we have come to the conclusion that the PDP NWC should be blamed for the unfathomable rot ravaging our once great national party.

The Imo State PDP Critical Stakeholders are emboldened by indubitable facts to lay the blames for our dear party’s dismal performances at the door – steps of the NWC. In our our last correspondence to you dated June 8, 2023 we stated the various failings of the NWC and why it must be dissolved”.

The stakeholders group clearly mentioned what it considers the failures of the serving PDP NWC. It said, “Never in the history of the PDP has its NWC been this complacent that it does not take any interest in matters affecting and destroying the party nationwide”.

The Imo PDP vocal group descended heavily on its governorship candidate who doubles as the national secretary of the party, Senator Samuel Anyanwu otherwise known as Samdaddy.

It revealed thus: “We have been crying out loudly about the horrible situation in Imo State where our governorship candidate for the November 11, 2023 election, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, is a known mole of the All Progressive Congress (APC), even as he had been working to tear the party apart. For months now, the NWC has not given a hoot about investigating our claims or moving to call Senator Anyanwu to order.

“We reported that throughout the entire period of presidential campaigns, Senator Anyunwu as the National Secretary of our dear party neither attended nor sent a representative to any of the several rallies organized in Imo State for our presidential candidate, His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar. We sought for reasons and queried why the National Secretary who incidentally hails from Imo State was not bothered. Yet, the NWC never saw any reason to respond to those germaine questions”.

Without any reservation, the Critical Stakeholders body accused the NWC of causing the party the pains it suffered during 2023 campaigns. As Akunnakwe put it, “The current lack-lustre NWC abysmally failed to manage the party’s 2023 presidential campaigns; disappointingly fluffed our 2023 successes through its misguided supervision of governorship primaries across the states.

“Worse still, this is a NWC that unimaginably could not adequately respond to the challenge manufactured by the so-called G5 – Governors.
We are bringing to the fore, the complicity of some members of the NWC where handshakes were monetized and its outrageous grandstanding could not muster courage to sanction erring senior party members who found it convenient joining the opposition elements at the detriment of the party”.

The spokesperson of the protesters also blamed the NWC for it called the failure of the PDP to be united as one front while the 10th National Assembly was inaugurated. He said, “And now, once again, the NWC stood in total confusion and could not coordinate the party strategies to guide it to a successful elections in the leadership of the 10th National Assembly. This really dramatizes the NWC’s leadership ineptitude and crass negligence of duty”.

The Imo PDP Critical Stakeholders, having made its case of indictment very clear, made its submission to the BoT as follows: “The BOT should urgently call for an emergency national convention of the party in order to bring to the fore, the multifarious fallouts from the 2023 elections most of which were self- inflicted by the NWC. The emergency national convention shall elect new NWC members who will pilot PDP out of its present purposeless drift and woes.

“The BOT should painstakingly look into our lamentations and requests as presented overleaf and seek for the best ways of tackling them for the interest of the party and good of all party members across Nigeria. PDP is in dire need of a new beginning, a rebranding that will re-incorporate its historical core values that will guide it once again to winning ways. Only an emergency national convention to usher-in a once again vibrant NWC can save our party from its debilitating malaise”.

Investigations carried out by Business Hallmark revealed that the sole interest of the stakeholders was nothing but to ensure that Senator Anyanwu was not allowed to control the party’s structure in the state.

To be sure, there is no other zone in the state this struggle between the Imo PDP Critical Stakeholders and Samddady appears more fierce than in the Imo West Senatorial District otherwise known as Orlu Zone.

Last week, Samdaddy’s running mate, Dr Jones Onyerire, who hails from the Nkwerre, Isu, Nwagele and Njaba Federal Constituency, in Orlu Zone, was accused by the secretary of PDP in Oru West, also in Orlu Zone, Onyeka Ndubuaku, of attempting to exploit the avenue provided by the sudden resignation of the seven members of the SWC, to impose Samdaddy’s stooges in the area – five out of seven SWC members that tendered thier resignation letters were from Orlu Zone.

In a letter Ndubuaku wrote to PDP members in Oru West LGA and scooped up by Businesses Hallmark, the secretary, among other things, said, “We have received intelligence that the trio of Joe Ikunna, Japhet Okoro and Meekam Mgbenwelu have been harassing the ward chairmen and some of the members of the Local Government Area Executive Committee of our party in Oru West with the sole purpose of having them retract and deny the signatures they appended to support the choice of the Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta/Oru West Federal Constituency in the nomination of Damian Ezeruo to replace Barrister Obido, the former zonal chairman of Orlu Zone.

“For the avoidance of doubt, a meeting of the federal constituency comprising all the members of the Local Government Area Executive Committee of the three LGAs that make up Ohaji – Egbema/ Oguta/Oru West Federal Constituency was summoned on July 5, 2023 ,at the Country Home of our leader, His Excellency, Rt Hon Gerald Irona, the immediate past deputy governor of Imo State.

“Ezeruo was adopted in that meeting as the most qualified person to replace the recently – resigned zonal chairman, Barrister Obido. Suffice it to mention that Ezeruo has been a councillor, an LGA party chairman of Ohaji/Egbena LGA even as he is the immediate past council chairman of same local government.

“The trio of Ikunna, Okoro and Meekam, by this letter, are warned to desist from causing disaffection among the united members of the party in Oru West LGA.
They are at liberty to refer to the relevant sections of the PDP constitution which confer the right to call such a meeting by the LGA party chairman.They are, therefore, warned to desist from this anti-party activity. Failure to comply with this warning will attract sanctions from the party”.

“All the members of the Local Government Area Executive Committee are therefore advised not to attend any meeting summoned by any person without the consent of the party in Oru West”.

Meanwhile, media aide to Samddady, Comrade Ikenna Onuoha, noted that the PDP candidate for the November 11 governorship election was a man of principle and character who follow due process and laid down procedures, therefore, he cannot promote any unconstitutional behaviour capable of destroying the PDP or the electoral system.

Yet, the Imo PDP crisis rages on.