Ihedioha, Anyanwu tear Imo PDP apart

Ahead of the November 2023 gubernatorial election in Imo State, the state’s chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is threatened by an outright implosion as the battle for its gubernatorial ticket between two leading chieftains of the party in the state rages, writes ‘Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor.

The Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is troubled as a fierce struggle for the control of the structures of the opposition party rages ahead of the November 2023 governorship election in the state. Checks by The Nation revealed that the governorship ambitions of a former Governor the Imo State, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and current National Secretary of the PDP, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, are at the centre of the current crisis rocking the party.

In 2018, during the preparations for the 2019 guber election in the state, the two PDP chieftains slugged it out for the party’s governorship ticket. The contest was fierce. For months, the party in the state was divided into two groups made up of supporters of the two aspirants. Eventually, Ihedioha emerged winner of the PDP governorship primaries in Imo. He won the contest with a total of 1,723 votes to defeat Anyanwu, who came 2nd with a total of 1,282 votes.

The Imo governorship election will take place on November 6, 2023. The PDP lost the position on January 14, 2020, when the Supreme Court sacked Emeka Ihedioha, and declared Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election. Ihedioha is from Aboh Mbaise, Imo State, while Anyanwu is from Obodo Amaimo, Ikeduru Local Government Area of the state. the two are from the same senatorial district of the state.

The rivalry between the duo is revived ahead of the next gubernatorial election in the state. Current moves by the two camps to outsmart the other are already creating tension within the state chapter of the PDP. There are fears that the division created by the governorship ambitions of the two leading party men may negatively affect the chances of the party in the forthcoming general elections in the state during which the PDP is seeking to displace the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from state and national assembly seats across the state.

As we speak, while Ihedioha enjoys the loyalty of the State Working Committee of the PDP led by Charles Egwu, Anyanwu is in firm control of the Presidential Campaign Committee (PCC) of the PDP in Imo State. Rather than work together for the victory of the party’s candidate in the state, the two bodies are engaged in a fierce battle for the control of the party and its members in the various constituencies of Imo State. Consequently, there have been reports of clashes between the two groups in recent time.

Camps emerge

As far back as 2021, Ihedioha ad left no one in doubt about his readiness to seek the party’s gubernatorial ticket. On several occasion he has spoken of the certainty of his return as governor of Imo state. “When you made me your governor I did not disappoint you from the beginning to the final stages. These are challenging and tough times. They want to discourage us but it will not happen. I will keep my eyes on the ball. We must keep our eyes on the ball. The ball is the governorship of Imo state. My eyes will firmly remain on the governorship of Imo state. We are already there,” he had said during a reception in his honour in 2021.

The state leadership of the PDP, in the very first month of last year, revealed that former governor Emeka Ihedioha, would be projected by the party in the 2023 governorship election. The Imo state PDP state Secretary, Emenike Nmeregini, disclosed this in a statement to newsmen in Owerri. He said PDP in Imo state would rely on Ihedioha’s achievements when he was governor to campaign for the 2023 elections. He hinted that he remains the very best man that can confront the ruling party in the state.

“It is incontrovertible that His Excellency Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha CON is our brand. And our message ahead of the 2023 general election is the celebrated achievements of the Rebuild Imo administration within the seven months. The PDP led Rebuild Imo administration laid a solid foundation for the rebuilding process of our state. It is on record that all the sectors of the state were receiving attention before the usurpers broke into the government house,” Nmeregini said.

Undeterred by the suspected support of the state leadership of the party for Ihedioha, Anyanwu threw his hat into the ring last year. Last August, to demonstrate his readiness to take another shot at the governorship, Anyanwu has revived his political organization, the Divine Mandate Movement (DDM) by appointing a new Director General and Secretary. According to a statement signed by Ikenna Onuoha, his Special Adviser on Media, the fresh appointments were made “to galvanize the Movement (DDM) to enable it achieve success in subsequent elections”

To most observers of the politics of the state, the new appointments signify Anyanwu’s renewed interest in the Imo PDP governorship ticket. “The Senator is interested in the ticket and he is the frontrunner as we speak. There is a need for our zone to try someone new this time so that we don’t continue to lose the chance to produce the governor of the state. It is not true that the state leadership of the party have ceded the ticket to Ihedioha. I am a member of the executive committee and I can tell you we are open to a fair contest,” a party source said on Saturday.

The tactical declaration of interest by the two gladiators spurred their supporters into action. And in no time, camps emerged in the state chapter of the PDP. Beyond the party, interest groups started emerging and the political atmosphere of the state became charged ahead of the next gubernatorial election. The preparations for the 2023 general elections also turned out as avenues for the contending groups within the party to flex muscles. Analysts say the friction within the party has been affecting the campaigns of the PDP candidates across the state.

Few days ago, a group, Mbaise Patriotic Assembly (MPA), led by a former Attorney General in the state, Justice Aguwa (retd), endorsed Senator Anyawu for the governorship election. The group claimed that since Ihedioha had been the choice of the people on two occasions without success, it would be better to look for another qualified, credible and vibrant choice, either from Mbaise clan or Owerri Zone to contest in the November 2023 Imo governorship election to avoid losing out again to another zone.

Another group known as Mbaise Apex Leaders led by Retired Air Commodore Luke Ochulor and made up of Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN) and Chief PGU Madu countered the endorsement. The group said Ihedioha remained the sole governorship choice of Mbaise people and that those who endorsed Senator Anyanwu did not have the mandate of the people. It was also learnt that they allegedly went as far as baring Senator Anyanwu from entering Mbaise land for trying to distort an already programmed order. These two developments further escalated the tension between the supporters of the two camps.

A house in disarray

The lid was finally blown off the simmering crisis during the week when the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Management Committee (PCC) in the state raised the alarm over the fortunes of the campaign in the state. State Director of the PCC, Hon. Greg Egu, said Ihedioha’s nominees in the committee are shunning meetings and activities related to the presidential campaign of the PDP in the state. “They had failed to attend three previous meetings of the committee. The state chairman of the party, Chief Charles Ugwu, has also turned his face against the committee,” he claimed.

The director called on the national secretariat of the party to intervene in the matter. He, however, maintained that the committee was working round the clock to ensure the success of the campaign. Investigation attributed the problem to superiority contest between the former governor Ihedioha and National Secretary of the party Senator Samuel Anyanwu, over who picks the ticket to represent the party in the 2023 governorship election in the state. Sources close to the party told the Nation that the ambition of the two gladiators is adversely affecting the fortune of the party in the state.

To Egu, Ihedioha and his supporters are frustrating the campaign plans of the PDP in the state. “All the 41 candidates of the PDP in Imo have found it difficult to campaign for Atiku because of the body language of Ihedioha who is playing a double-faced game. One cannot be working hard for Atiku and at the same time be painting his campaign structure in bad light in the estimation of the public. All that Ihedioha has been doing is to further his ambition to be Imo governor a third time and that is why he is frustrating the PCC,” Egu said.

He also accused the former governor of factionalising the presidential campaign in the state in pursuit of his personal ambition by convening meetings in his residence when the PCC had a befitting campaign building in Owerri. “There is a party secretariat in Owerri where he can convene meetings, if he doesn’t like the Atiku/Okowa campaign building. All Ihedioha’s nominees within the presidential campaign council have also refused to attend meetings of the council. I called meetings on December 24, 2022, January 7 and January 11, and not a single loyalist of Ihedioha in the Imo PCC attended.

“We warn Ihedioha to desist from unilaterally convening meetings of his selected nominees in his private residence in the name of the Imo PCC because we cannot guarantee his true intentions,” he stressed. However, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Imo State, Collins Okpuruzo, who insisted Ihedioha is the leader of the party in the state, dismissed the allegations against the former governor. He accused Egu of whipping up false allegations against Ihedioha, who according to him, have done so much for Atiku’s campaign.

“I can confirm today that most of the activities carried out for our presidential candidate are being funded by Ihedioha. The publicity programmes we have and the billboards, advertorials and jingles that are everywhere are directly sponsored by Ihedioha. He has also deployed his transportation network, contacts and loyalists into the field to aggressively mobilise for the victory of Atiku Abubakar. Anybody that accuses Ihedioha of not supporting or working for the victory of Atiku Abubakar is only playing to the gallery and only being dishonest,” he said.

Efforts by the PDP leadership failed to resolve the rift between the two Imo politicians as a meeting with stakeholders in the two camps ended in a deadlock. Senator Iyorchia Ayu, who chaired the reconciliation meeting at the PDP national secretariat, could not prevail on the two factions to embrace peace. This forced him to seek the intervention of Atiku and his running mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. But entreaties made by the two PDP candidates also failed to yield required fruits till this moment. As it is, stakeholders within and outside Imo state are expressing concerns as the clash of the two Imo politicians has affected the smooth running of the Imo PDP chapter.

(Nation)