By Charles Igbo
The Imo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is in trouble. The Party which has been engulfed in internal crisis since the months leading to the Governorship Primary, does not seem to putting its differences behind it.
Recall that the crisis led to the sudden withdrawal of the Party’s most potent Governorship candidate, The Rt. Honourable Emeka Ihedioha, who was removed after seven months from office as Governor of the State. Ihedioha’s withdrawal gave room for Senator Samuel Anyanwu, the National Secretary of the Party to pick the ticket as a sole candidate.
The crisis, which led to legal actions, atimes, divided the Party into two factions, and has remained so till date. It also led to a run in the membership of the party. The worst was the resignation from their offices and membership of the Party by seven members of the State Executive Council. The run continues till date.
On Sunday, the 10th of September, the Party was dealt another political blow. Two PDP members of the Federal House of Assembly, Ikenga Ugochinyere and Jonas Okeke, were sacked by the Imo State National Assembly Election Petition sitting at Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
The suit which sacked Ugochinyere, was filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC Abazi Chika Benson.
Ugochinyere, the most visible and voracious of the sacked two, was not only sacked, his Party was barred from participating in a supplementary election which the Tribunal ordered to to take place within 90 days.
Ugochinyere and the PDP were sacked because the Primary election which produced him, according to the Tribunal, was illegal.
In the unanimous judgement, the three-member Tribunal, led by Anthony Olotu Akpovi, held that Ugochinyere was not validly nominated to contest the February 25 election.
It, therefore, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to, within 90 days, conduct a supplementary election in 53 units of the constituency where elections were not held, on February 25th, 2023 due to alleged insecurity, and barred Ugochinyere and his political party, PDP, from participation.
The respondents were the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which declared Ugochinyere winner, Ugochinyere and his Party, the PDP, and the Candidate of the Labour Party, Obi Paschal Chigozie and his Party, the LP.
Abazu’s grouse was that the Primary which produced Ugochinyere was held outside his Constituency – Ideato North/South, against the Electoral Act.
Pleading insecurity, the PDP had held the Primary in Owerri Town. The three-man Tribunal, headed by the Honourable Justice Anthony Akpoyi who read the judgment, unanimously agreed that Ugochinyere’s victory during the Primary was illegal since it held at an illegal venue. And so, agreed with Abazi that the votes which was cast for Ugochinyere on February 25 are void.
In the case of Ehime/Mbano Federal Constituency, Okeke was sacked in favour of Deacon Chika Okafor who was the incumbent.
Members of the Tribunal, as in the case of Ugochinyere, unanimously agreed that Okafor won the election.
However while the sack of Okafor is not generating much noise and controversy, that of Ugochinyere is. Aside from the fact that Ugochinyere is always usually in the news for one reason or the other, he had been in out of the Courts fighting to keep his candidacy. He fought upto the Supreme Court where he secured victory. He is, also, the Director General of the Governorship Candidate of PDP, Anyanwu, Incidentally, Anyanwu is the man who, allegedly, according to the Imo PDP, which is fighting itself, did everything to deny him of the ticket.
With the sack of Ugochinyere, accusations and counter accusations are raging as to who was responsible for his sack.
While Ugochinyere and some PDP members hold, as usual, Governor Hope Uzodinma, responsible, some other PDP members have placed it at the feet of Anyanwu. They allege that far from insecurity being the reason why the Party held its Federal Constituency Primary in Owerri instead of the Local Government Headquarters, it was for the fear that Anyanwu’s loyalists were allegedly primed to disrupt the process, and stuff the ballot boxes for their choice aspirant.
In a post, one of them decried the holding of Governor Uzodinma responsible, and dismissed it as unfair. He insisted post Anyanwu should be held responsible.
“I hate that we blame Hope for our own undoing. What is politics? It is simply taking advantage of your opponents weakness.
“The history of PDP’s last primaries is known to all of us. Normally the party would have done its primaries at the various LGAs. But one man used a position that would have benefited Ndi Imo PDP, to fight them to death.
“It was the fear of having materials hijacked at various LGAs by those loyal to the National Secretary, Samdaddy, that made the party take the decision of having their primaries in a central venue.
“Recall that Gorge Igbo from Ideato who was serving as Samdaddy’s PA at that time, did everything possible to stop Ugochinyere and among his plans was to hijack the materials of Ideato North and South and submit the fake result sheets.
“Today, Imo PDP have (sic) forgotten that majority of the Excos who conducted and signed documents for the primaries are now working with Uzodinma. That means the PDP is vulnerable more than ever.
“I keep saying it that Samdaddy did Imo PDP shege. We may not understand now but will understand later. I’m sure the idea of becoming serious in the race was an afterthought. Samdaddy was clearly on a mission to destroy the pdp. Sadly, the child he intended to kill has died in his hands.
“Imo pdp be courageous to talk. Be courageous to say the truth. No body will kill you. Attacking Collins Opuruzor, Ray Emeana or Martin Ejiogu will not save u. Focus on the man who destroyed the PDP, That’s Samdaddy.”
Another PDP member agrees. In his own post, he said:
“Samdaddy is the number one problem Imo PDP, Ikenga, and other PDP House of Reps members are facing today. The issues of pre election is caused by Samdaddy with all the petitions and court cases against Ikenga and other PDP candidates challenging their victories at the primaries. Today the APC has used the pre election cases and petitions filed by Samdaddy to witch-hunt all our PDP House of Reps members. The same way Samdaddy challenged His Excellency Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha’s victory after PDP 2018 to 2019 primaries with a lot of petitions and court cases that gave Uzodimma and APC opportunity to sack or removed (sic) him as governor of Imo State. Samdaddy is not supposed to allow (sic) to remain or celebrate in PDP at all.”
The PDP, surely is going into the November 11 election a very divided house. Said one of them: “With a divided house, with Ihedioha’s loud silence, it is easy to know what the outcome of November 11 Governorship election will be. To me, it looks like there will be no serious contestant against the incumbent unless the PDP wakes up. Time seems very short for that.”
Ugochinyere holds Uzodinma responsible for his sack. But he has sworn to appeal his sack from the Tribunal, and declared that he would defeat Uzodinma.
Time will tell.
