PDP Action 2023, a group inside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has stated that former Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha withdrew from the state’s governorship primary due to an unfair and unjust procedure conducted by the PDP national leadership prior to the primary.
The group voiced concern that the party’s national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, who is also a candidate and a supervisory official in the primaries, would not ensure a free, fair, and just primary process.
Recall that Ihedioha informed the office of the PDP National Chairman of his resignation from the PDP governorship primary in the state in a letter dated March 27, 2023.
The group’s chairman, Rufus Omeire, issued a statement on Wednesday stating, “In the first place, Ihedioha, who had been a loyal member of the PDP since 1999, was treated unfairly and unjustly by the party’s leadership.
As a native of Imo State, the National Secretary of the party, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, had expressed interest in running for the governorship primaries. But, as the incumbent national secretary, it is only appropriate that he not supervise the primaries in which he is a candidate.”
The group found it astonishing that “Anyawu himself was screened as an aspirant and thereafter signed the clearance certificates of all successful aspirants, including himself.”
Omeire noted that Section 47 (5) of the PDP’s constitution obliged the party to specify in its guidelines the term of resignation for any national officer seeking elective office.
“The party under the supervision of the suspended Ayu refused to do so in order to grant an unfair advantage to any national officer of the party, to remain in office and preside over primaries in which they may be candidates,” the statement stated in part.
The organisation asserted that “the only fair thing for the PDP to do at this stage is to open the procedure for another competent candidate to enter the race in Imo State; if this is not done, Ayu would have succeeded in murdering the Imo PDP, just as he has done for the national PDP.”
