Emeka Osondu
2 July 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
He also explained that at that time, Uba had full grasp of the situation and had control over the party machinery to decide who goes for what position, he (Uba) would simply had picked his eldest brother, Ugochukwu Uba, a Ph.D holder, who was most qualified for the job.
The Idemili South-born lawyer therefore appealed to Uba to forgive and forget the ugly past experience that he had with their son, just as he assured that the people of the area were solidly behind the Emodi-led executive and would work concretively with them to actualize the mandate.
Similarly, the situation at Dunukofia Council area was quite instructive. Despite the fact that this is the home place of Mr. Ifeatu Ivy Obi-Okoye, who had stiffly contested the state PDP chairmanship stool with Emodi, the out-pour of members to the Oye Ukpo venue to welcome the visiting Emodi and his team was quite revealing.
The chairman of the local government chapter of PDP, Mr. Akaeze in his address said of Emodi in particular "may we first of all thank and praise God who has special love for us by reinstating you and your executive back to your deserved seat. We rejoice and hail the NWC of our most democratic party which allowed justice and fair play to prevail. God is really with us.
"We believe that this managerial and administrative ability in you is already reflecting in your leadership of our great party in Anambra State. Your policy of reconciliation, rehabilitation and reunion is superlative and it endears you to all and sundry. Kudos and more grease to your elbow. May God continue to dress your vineyard as you tirelessly work for the continuous progress of your party," Akaeze noted.
Given this development, one may be tempted to ask "from what base or platform is Obi-Okoye operating from as a politician?" It could be recalled that Obi.Okoye was one of the major characters at the centre stage at the wake of the crisis in 2003, during the administration of Dr. Chris Ngige in the State.
In some other areas visited by the PDP State Executive, some members who had left the party seized the occasion to return back to the fold, while some entirely new people from other parties equally decamped to PDP. For instance, in Anambra West, the Chairman Raphael presented the former Chairman of Local government chapter of ANPP, Mr. John Ozoemena, who recently decamped from the party to PDP with over four hundred members of his party. The story is the same at Nnewi North, where the Chairman Hon. Azuka Okeke also presented two groups of women who decamped from AC and APGA to PDP.
Reacting to the development, Emodi said he felt humbled by the experience and urged every member of PDP who felt wronged one way or the other to sheathe the sword and work for peace and the state, explaining that the PDP umbrella is large enough to accommodate everybody as one large family.
He also promised that if elected into power in 2010, the party would enhance infrastructural facilities, especially at the food producing areas in order to guarantee improved food security for the people.
It would be recalled that the power tussle in Anambra PDP started as far back as 2003 during the tenure of Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju. Mbadinuju defected to the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to contest the governorship when he failed to secure the PDP ticket.
Before Mbadinuju's defection, the state PDP held a congress that produced Don Onochie as state chairman, Ifeatu Obi-Okoye as deputy chairman and Reuben Okpalaoka as State Secretary, among others. However, Onochie resigned his post and decamped to AD with his mentor, Mbadinuju. Given this development, the National Working Committee of PDP had to swear-in Obi-Okoye as the acting state chairman in accordance with Article 15 of PDP constitution.
Equally in June 2004, the National leadership of the party had recommended for vacancies in the Anambra state PDP to be filled to replace those who defected to AD, especially that of the chairman.
A special congress was slated for July 1, 2004, but surprisingly, it was aborted following a political crisis that erupted. This crisis which involved the abduction attempt of the then seating Governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, lingered and eventually tore the party apart, with one faction belonging to a faction loyal to Gov. Chris Ngige, and the other to his estranged god-father, Chief Chris Uba.
Following this development, the national leadership of PDP under the chaimanship of Dr. Ahmadu Ali declared that the state was no longer safe for the conduct of the congress and shifted the exercise to Abuja, the nation's capital. In the process, it invited all stakeholders of the party in the state as well as the members to be part of the special congress. At the end of the exercise, Mr. Uchenna Emodi was elected as the consesus chairman of the state chapter of the party in Anambra state and was subsequently sworn-in office..
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