PDP CHAIR: JONATHAN UNDER PRESSURE TO DROP NWODO

By NBF News

President Goodluck Jonathan is under intense pressure from various stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from all the geo-political zones of the country to drop Dr. Okwesilizie Nwodo who is being favoured for the party's national chairmanship position.

Informed party sources disclosed at the weekend that the stakeholders are furious over the decision of some hawks in the PDP to foist Nwodo on the party as its national chairman when he has eligibility problem hanging on his neck.

They said that the party, which was smarting from credibility problem after its erstwhile National Chairman, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor was forced to resign over corruption charges and the Secretary of the party's BOT, Dr. Abdullahi Adamu, also forced to toe the same line over corruption charges, could not be allowed to be enmeshed in another credibility problem over Nwodo who, apart from the eligibility case, also has a criminal case hanging on his neck in court.

According to the sources, the stakeholders claimed to be in possession of a document from the National Electoral Commission (INEC) in which Nwodo was an agent of the Action Congress (AC) in the last general elections during which he worked against the PDP and for the same person to be considered for the number one position in the party amounted to taking the party for a ride.

'It is also seen as a ploy to force the leadership of the party to dump it and join other parties, especially the mega party which Nwodo was at the helm of affairs until a few months ago,' a stakeholder, who spoke on the basis of anonymity, said.

'We are the largest party on the African continent and we must be seen as doing those things that earn us respect and credibility and not the other way round,' another stakeholder was quoted as saying.

Another said 'we should not be seen as rewarding corruption. If Vincent Ogbulafor was forced to resign because of a corruption charge involving only about N100million, why should certain persons be coercing or convincing the president to accept Nwodo who is allegedly involved in a scam worth $214million? What sense does it make, especially when the present administration harps on anti-corruption?'

Again, some of the stakeholders had questioned why Nwodo refused to return to the PDP when the Alex Ekwueme-led reconciliation panel recommended his return but instead of taking advantage of the recommendation as a  window to return to PDP, he rather joined the mega party only to return to the PDP almost two years after.

'That panel's recommendation is not binding forever and since he did not return to the PDP immediately, he should not be accommodated, talk less of rewarding him with the number one position in PDP,' a source added.

President Goodluck Jonathan had therefore, been advised to jettison the idea of accepting Nwodo for the number one slot in PDP and revert to the zoning arrangement of political offices in the South-East to get a candidate from Imo State for equity, justice and unity of the party.