Nwodo Inaugurates New Anambra PDP Exco, Says It Is A Last Chance
ABUJA, August 24, (THEWILL) - Exhibiting obvious frustration over failure of all previous efforts to restore peace in the Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), party National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, today in Abuja inaugurated a Caretaker Committee for the state with a tacit warning that the latest effort could mean a last chance shot at peace in the state’s chapter.
Nwodo who spoke to members of the 29-man committee led by Emma Nweze attributed the crisis to the antics of political bigwigs in the state who are bent on running the party as a private estate to the detriment of other party members and stakeholders in the state who are denied a level playing field by the political godfathers.
According to him, the fortunes of the party has been on the downward slide in Anambra State since its formation because of the antics of some few persons in the state.
"The first chairman of our Board of Trustees is a distinguished son of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme who comes from your state and by his leadership when we formed this party we made very far reaching victory in the elections that were conducted in Anambra. We won the governorship, we won the senatorial elections, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly and indeed almost all the local governments," Nwodo said.
"Since then things have been going from bad to worse in the fortunes of PDP in Anambra state. It is not because a mega party was formed in Anambra State, it was not because the creme-de la- crème of Nigerian politicians from Anambra State have left PDP. PDP has been the problem of PDP in Anambra State. At each time there has been an effort for the party to be controlled by one person and then all the other stakeholders will turn around and fight that person," the National Chairman explained.
Nwodo declared that the members of the National Working Committee of the party are happy with party stakeholders from Anambra State over their refusal to get involved in putting the new Caretaker Committee together because of the NWC’s insistence that anyone known to be loyal to identified factional leaders should not be included in the committee.
"At the last meeting I had with stakeholders I pleaded with them to set up this executive, they found it difficult to do so and insisted that the NWC should do that. When I brought back the message to the NWC they didn’t take it kindly because they say they have tried and they have never succeeded. This is our last attempt that if we try now and you people go home and fail then PDP will give up on Anambra State and I hope we will not have to do that, not in a state where we have the best politicians in the whole of the South East and then that state cannot be run effectively to win elections. I believe that you are very competent.
"We have tried, I have tried very hard to put together with the National Working Committee this executive we are about to inaugurate today. We have tried in our consultations to have people who are not campaign coordinators and campaign managers of powerful politicians vying for offices in Anambra State. You have been chosen because by our consultations you appear to be knowledgeable about the politics of Anambra State without being seriously tied to any of the politicians who have ambition in your state."
Dr. Nwodo advised the committee to put the interest of the party and the state above individual and parochial groups to achieve the target of restoring peace in the state chapter.
"We don’t want an executive where you stay from morning till night fighting for your principals rather than fighting for the good of Anambra state. We want an executive that will provide a level playing ground for all politicians in the PDP because this is what we have not had after the formation of the party in Anambra state.
"We want you to be able to raise a local government executive in each local government in the same way you have been raised, looking for people of integrity, looking for people that are not already in the apron strings of powerful candidates, looking for people that have not been collateralized by anybody so that the same executive we are trying to put together in the state will be there for everybody at the local governments. And then you move down and you have to inaugurate the ward executives using the same templates and same principles."
In his response, the Chairman of the Committee, Emma Nweze assured the NWC that the days of godfathers in Anambra State are now numbered as no one will be treated as first among equal by members of the Caretaker Committee.
Nweze further appealed to the party leadership to discountenance any rumour about members of the committee as some mischief-makers in the state are already on the path of blackmail of the committee members even before they are inaugurated.