ARTHUR EZE,OBI,OLISA METUH,ANYIM AT WAR OVER PDPs CONTROL. 2015: POWER STRUGGLE TEAR SOUTH EAST PDP APART Less than three months to the 2015 general elections, an intense power struggle is playing out in Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which may threaten the party’s chances in the polls. Daily Sun gathered that in the run-up to the National Assembly poll, the party is already divided into two major camps: one is spearheaded by Chief Arthur Eze and the other, made up of Chief Olisa Metuh and former Anambra State governor, Mr. Peter Obi, with the backing of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim. The bone of contention, it was gathered, was the plan to confer leadership of the party on Obi, who is being considered by those opposed to the two camps as “a new entrant in PDP.” The PDP in the state was also divided along individual ambitions on elective positions in 2015, and most importantly, who would lead President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign in the state. Another major area of contention was the opposition to take instructions from Abuja on some preferred candidates for elective positions. Already, sources within the party said candidates that would fly the party’s flag in the polls had been pencilled down, almost to the exclusion of other aspirants. It was gathered that the competition was fiercer for the Senate election in the state. Daily Sun learnt that the preferred PDP candidate for Anambra Central Senatorial District was Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, Uche Ekwunife. But there was stiff opposition to her choice within the party because it was gathered that Eze preferred Senator Annie Okonkwo, who was vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology in the sixth Senate between 2007 and 2011. Also, it was gathered that some elements in the Presidency preferred Dr. Obiora Okonkwo for the ticket. The common link between Ekwunife and Okonkwo, is that they have just returned to the party having defected from All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) respectively. Ekwunife’s candidacy reportedly had the anointing of a top shot in the Presidency but the remaining two senatorial districts were said to be up for grabs. In Anambra North, it is a keen contest between incumbent Senator Margery Chuba- Okadigbo, who is being tipped to return to the Senate for a second term, as she only got into the Senate in 2012, and former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, who is allegedly being backed by Senator Anyim, who is from Ebonyi State. Oduah’s candidacy is also being backed by Obi. In Anambra South Senatorial District, it was unclear whether Senator Andy Uba would eventually clinch the ticket, as some top members of the PDP in the state had another candidate lined up to wrest the ticket from him. Sources in the party said with two party executives laying claim to being the genuine executive, and a court order that status quo be maintained until tomorrow, when the matter would likely be resolved, Chief Chris Uba had allegedly purchased the form to contest the senatorial seat for the district. The groundswell of the power play, however, is for control of the party apparatus before the primaries, which has now been shifted to December 7. Sources privy to the intense power play told Daily Sun at the weekend that the SGF, Obi, PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu and Eze had been drafted to ensure that “no one but Obi leads the campaigns for not only the party but also, President Jonathan in 2015 in the state. “The strategy is quite simple: with the backing from Abuja, he will be handed the party structure and also, work with known party faithful, including those who recently defected from opposition parties,” the source said. It was also gathered that the main reason for handing over the party structure to Obi was that “when he was a sitting governor, he ensured that Jonathan won the state in 2011. But they forget that as governor, Obi did not do the work alone; he worked with committed party faithful. This new plan may backfire because some of us have been in the trenches before he defected to the PDP.”
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 08:07:48 +0000
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