By Musa Baba Adamu
Imo State stakeholders of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have accused former Governor Emeka Ihedioha of turning the Atiku Presidential Campaign Council into his personal structure in the state.
They have, therefore, rejected to associate with the Atiku Campaign Council.
The disaffected party chieftains said: “The constitution of the party stipulates that for the campaign council to be constituted, the stakeholders of the party must widely be consulted and that the State Executive Committee, comprising of various important dignitaries of the party, must vet and ratify the campaign council.”
The former House of Assembly member for Okigwe Local Government Area, Ngozi Ogbu, who spoke to newsmen in Owerri on behalf of the stakeholders said: “We wish to use this medium to inform the party that the stakeholders of the party in Imo State were summoned to a stakeholder meeting to discuss the composition of the Presidential Campaign Council and Campaign Management Council but to our surprise and chagrin, the secretary of the party, Nze Ray Emeana proceeded to read out a list of members of the Presidential Campaign Council and Management Committee Council.”
According to him, the list led to serious disagreement as the majority of the stakeholders opposed the list of members of the Presidential campaign council as an imposition as they were never consulted, and therefore viewed the list as an extension of the Emeka Ihedioha Campaign Council.
“We must recognize that His Excellency Ihedioha is an aspirant for the position of governor of Imo State. There are so many other aspirants for that position. Therefore, it is untidy to impose him on the stakeholders as Chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council,” Ogbu noted.
He said further: “We, therefore, call on the State Working Committee and the Presidential Campaign Council and His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, to arrest the situation urgently, to avoid defeat of PDP in Imo State.”
Another chieftain of the party, Evangelist Mike Ikeoku, who is a member of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council at the National level also said: “PDP as a party belongs to the people and not Emeka Ihedioha and Sons Limited.”
Ikeoku added that the only problem the party has is the ambition of one man trying to convert the party to his private property.
“We want the party to caution Emeka Ihedioha and the State Working Committee in order for our party to win elections in Imo State,” he stated.
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