NWODO INAUGURATES CARETAKER COMMITTEE FOR ANAMBRA

National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo has called on the Anambra PDP Caretaker Committee to ensure that peace returns to the state chapter of the party. Nwodo gave the charge yesterday, while inaugurating a 29- member committee to run the affairs of the party in Anambra. The PDP national chairman expressed disappointment over the fortunes of the party in the state and attributed it to disaffection within the ranks of the party gladiators.

'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.

'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.'

Nwodo called on members of the committee to insulate themselves from tendencies that hadundermined efforts to restore peace and ensure the desired progress of PDP in Anambra.

'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 has ambition in your state.

'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. As long as our candidate feels that you are there to serve one person's interest the rest will gang up against you and against that candidate and the story will continue to be the same.

'You must consult all the stakeholders but they must not give you their campaign managers and coordinators, they must not give you people who have taken sides already so that everybody who wants to contest can find comfort and can find confidence in the executives that you have put in place at the local governments and at the wards.

'It is very important and I will be monitoring this from here. That is the only way we can give Anambra a fresh hope, where we conduct primaries and our members will not turn around to fight our candidates, where primaries will be free and fair, where the winner will win with magnanimity and the loser will lose feeling that he has fought a good fight and he has lost honourably.

Then they can join the winner to go campaign and win general election for the party.'

Chairman of the newly inaugurated committee, Emma Nweze, assured members of the PDP National Working Committee that his team would deliver on reconciliation and restoration of sanity in the state chapter of the party.

'Mr. Chairman, I am giving you the assurance that we are not going to let you down. It is going to be an era of reconciliation, fence mending and reinvigoration. We are going to associate ourselves with the ongoing reforms in the party. We are going to be part of those reforms, 100 percent. The day of godfatherism in Anambra PDP is over.

'What we are going to produce in every level is going to be the best 11 and not the worst 11, because that was what has been happening in Anambra in the past. We are going to step on toes. We are going to salvage, restructure and rebrand Anambra State PDP.