Imo PDP breaks up over primaries
Hundreds of members of Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday broke away from the party and formed what they called new PDP with Fabian Ihekweme as the state chairman.
The n-PDP, was formed in Owerri, capital of Imo State, at Villa Garden Hotel.
The n-PDP has as its deputy chairman, Jerry Ogoke; Secretary, Ifeanyi Oguzie; while Johnbosco Ben and Christigonus Okoro became Spokesperson and Organising Secretary respectively. The legal adviser is Uche Igbokwe.
The new group also gave the National Working Committee, NWC, of PDP, on or before 29th of November 2018, to resolve all the issues or face mass defection of members of the PDP to an opposition party.
Giving reasons for the emergence of the n-PDP, Ihekweme said: “How can it be explained that a major political party like the PDP could not return a single female out of 42 elective positions that were offered to party members and even the few women that emerged were brazenly removed at Abuja.
“To add pepper to the injury, some of the validly elected aspirants in the field that contested for House of Representatives were fraudulently replaced at the Wadata House without recourse to due process.
“What we saw as loyal party members was in fact a subterranean move by one man parading himself as both a leader and agent of the NWC.
“The whole arrangement was aimed at shortchanging the rest of us into rubber stamping his own emergence as the legitimate winner of a grossly manipulated and flawed process.
“As electioneering campaigns are starting across the country in compliance with INEC guidelines and timetable, there exists a compelling reasons to hold our coalition in the beleaguered Imo PDP from further drifting to other political locations and it will be utterly irresponsible of us not to create an umbrella that would canopy our interests.”
But reacting to the development yesterday, the State Publicity Secretary of Imo PDP, Damian Opara said that if there were aggrieved members, they should come to the party and settle their problems.
Opara said: “We have one PDP in Nigeria. The thing is that some people felt they couldn’t find their feet in the party after the primaries and they want to draw bad blood.
“We don’t have anything like new Imo PDP. If you feel aggrieved over internal party functions, there are various internal mechanisms to settle such problems.
“I advise them to let the party settle the problems instead of trying to tear the party into pieces. It will serve nobody any good. They should find a way and settle their problems instead of destroying the house all of us built.”
