By Cajetan Mmuta
A stalwart of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, Chief Amaechi Onowu on Saturday raised the alarm over the alleged imposition of a consensus candidate for the office of National Auditor in the forthcoming National Convention of the party.
He alleged that one of the party leaders in the State had connived with some others outside the state to impose one Mr Obi Okechukwu on the members.
Onowu in a statement issued in Awka the state capital to newsmen, and copied to Mr Peter Obi, Leader of the party in the State,
Mr Valentine Ozigbo, PDP Governorship Candidate, BOT Members and Chief Olisa Metuh Former National Publicity Secretary stated that the said Okechukwu had never been a party executive nor major stakeholder, but a personal associate of the leaders.
Others who were copied include the State PDP National and State Assembly Members, NEC Members, Zonal Executive and State Executive members.
Onowu, a former State Organising Secretary of the party, describing the action as unacceptable and should be resisted by members, the chieftain called on the State Chairman to urgently convene a state caucus meeting based on the party’s constitution to reach a consensus agreement ahead of the Convention.
The statement reads, “My attention has been drawn to a Press Statement signed by Chief Ali Odefa (Southeast zonal vice-chairman), where he mentioned one Mr Obi Okechukwu as the consensus candidate for the office of the PDP National Auditor in the forthcoming National Convention of our great party.
“For emphasis, I joined PDP at the formation stage in 1998 with Dr Alex Ekwueme. I have been in PDP to date, hardly is there any critical stakeholder of the party in Anambra state that is unknown to me.
“From 1998 till date, it has been the norm that the position of a National Officer be discussed and agreed to by the major stakeholders of the party in Anambra State, whereas I am not aware of any meeting held either within Anambra state or beyond, where the said “consensus” candidate was discussed or agreed.
“Upon my embarrassing receipt of the Press Statement by Chief Odessa, I inquired to know how and when the consensus agreement was reached, only to discover that one of the PDP leaders from Anambra State connived with some leaders outside Anambra state to impose the so-called Mr Obi Okechukwu on our great party members.
“From my investigations, the said Mr Obi Okechukwu has never been an executive or major stakeholder of the party at either the ward, LGA or State level, but just a personal associate of the leader.
“Let us recall that we lost some State, National Assembly, party executives, BOT members and other big stakeholders to other political parties, based on the outcome of our last governorship primary.
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“This new style of imposing strangers on the party despite having qualified loyal party men and women, who have laboured for the party is unacceptable and should be resisted by all party members. We should not kill the reward system that used to be the norm in Anambra State PDP and Nigeria in general.
“I reject and call on all loyal party members in the state to also reject the purported consensus agreement on Mr Obi Okechukwu.
“I advice the State Chairman of the party to urgently convene a State Caucus meeting based on Section 22 of our party’s constitution, to reach a consensus agreement before the National Convention, scheduled to hold between October 30 – 31, 2021.”
