By Charles Igbo
A former Senate President under the President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, says he had no regrets voting against his Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the last Governorship election.
Anyim, who was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation under the President Goodluck Administration, during the Governorship Election held on March 18, 2023, voted for the Candidate of the rival All Progressives Congress, APC, against the Candidate of his Party.
Two days to the Election, he had shocked not a few people when he gave an inkling that he would vote against his Party. He had told the Press at a Stakeholders meeting organised by Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, in Anyim’s Local Government Area, that he would vote for the Candidate of the APC, because he believes in the rotation of the office of the Governor, and that it was the turn of his Zone to produce the Governor.
He said he was not happy that his Party, the PDP, chose a Candidate from Governor Umahi’s Zone after Umahi had stayed for eight years in office.
Two things surprised his listeners. First that Anyim attended what was clearly an APC event. Second, that he attended it with Umahi present. Both men have, for years, not seen eye to eye politically. They had been bitter political enemies since Umahi defected to the APC from the PDP, and waged what was described as a war against his former compatriots in the PDP, especially, Anyim.
True to his words, Anyim voted for the Governorship Candidate of the APC who went ahead to win the election.
Embarrassed that the former Senate President, who is a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, and a former Presidential Aspirant of the Party, could publicly back the APC, the Party, on Wednesday, suspended him and a couple of others, including two former Governors Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State for anti-party activities.
But an unrepentant Anyim, in his response on Friday, said he had no regrets voting for the APC Governorship Candidate in Ebonyi State, and that he was disappointed with the suspension order slammed on him by the Party.
Mocking the Party, Anyim said that instead of its leadership to sit down and analyze how, and why, it performed woefully at the just concluded General elections, it was busy picking soft targets to hit at, while playing deaf to those who destroy the Party everyday. He disclosed that he warned the National Chairman of the Party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, over the Governorship Candidate picked by the PDP for Ebonyi State, but was ignored, even after he showed his disappointment by absenting himself from the Presidential Campaign Rally in the State.
Following is the full text of Anyim’s response to his suspension.
RE: PDP REFERS ORTOM TO DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE, SUSPENDS FAYOSE, SHEMA, ANYIM, OTHERS.
“Having watched Mr. Debo Ologunagba read a press statement with the above title, on behalf of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, I have the following observations and comments to make:
“1. The action of the NWC is, to say the least, disappointing.
I thought the concern of the NWC now would be how to undertake a thorough self-examination on why they performed so poorly in the 2023 elections rather than seek to further divide the party by shifting blames.
“2. It smacks of arrogance for the NWC to put up a bold face instead of showing remorse and being sober for leading the party to such colossal loss in the 2023 general elections, thereby dashing the hopes and expectations of party members and indeed Nigerians.
“3. It is clear that arising from the leadership style of the NWC, many members, intentionally and proudly, worked against the party including members of the NWC. Therefore, it is a display of innate cowardice for NWC to choose soft targets to suspend and fear those that daily demonize them.
“4. It is difficult to explain why the NWC is in a hurry to suspend leaders of the party without recourse to fair hearing, without which their action is null and void.
“5. In the case of Ebonyi State, the NWC imposed a candidate from the sitting Governor’s zone, contrary to the zoning formular in the state. Every effort to let the NWC see reason fell on deaf ears. On the day the party’s presidential rally was held in Ebonyi State, I told Dr. Ayu that I was boycotting the rally because I cannot support the candidate they imposed on Ebonyi State. Dr. Ayu did nothing. He did not care even as I did not attend the Ebonyi rally. The NWC may wish to know that I am proud to have supported the APC Gubernatorial candidate in Ebonyi State to win the election because that conforms to the equitable formular in Ebonyi State. It is therefore my expectation that the NWC should reverse itself in the interest of the party.”
Speculations are, however, strong that Chief Anyim may, eventually, dump the PDP for the APC.
