By Charles Igbo
The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, Party, PDP, Imo State, has cost the Party two high profile members.
The Party has been factionalised into two – a faction, including members of the State Working Committee, fiercely loyal to former Governor Emeka Ihedioha, and the other, loyal to the National Secretary of the Party, Chukwuemeka Anyanwu, popular as Samdaddy.
Both camps have engaged each other in media war. The bone of contention is the Governorship ticket of the Party in November 2023, which both men are preparing to contest.
They have been at each other’s neck, and high profile members of the two camps have been victims of media attacks.
One of those who recently came under attack is a PDP Board of Trustees member, Dr Kema Chikwe.
A couple of days ago, she was attacked in various social platforms, loyal to Ihedioha, for showing what they called, ingratitude towards Ihedioha. Chikwe, they said, spoke against Ihedioha at the recent meeting of the Imo PDP with the National Working Committee. They accused her of bitterness because the Senator representing Imo East Senatorial District, Ezenwa Onyewuchi, who they called her ATM, lost at the Primaries to Barr. Uche Onyeagucha, Secretary to the State Government under the short lived Ihedioha Government.
Onyewuchi has since decamped to the Labour Party, and would square off with Onyeagucha for the seat in 2023.
It is not known if the sour grapes thrown at Ambassador Kema Chikwe had anything to do with it, but her husband, Nze Herbert Chikwe, and her son, Andy Chikwe, on Monday, 28th November, 2022, dumped the PDP for the LP.
They were received by Senator Onyewuchi and other State officials of the Imo LP.
Dr Chikwe, until the recent sad incidents was a close political ally of Ihedioha. It is not known, yet, if she, too, will dump the PDP for the LP.
Under the PDP Government, she had been the Ministry for Aviation, Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, Chairman, NUC, and PDP National Women Leader.
The Chikwes are from Owerri North.
