Less than one week of losing the keenly Anambra governorship election to the incumbent party in the state, the plagued Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state has started yet another move aimed at uniting its aggrieved members through proper zoning of offices ahead of the forthcoming congresses

At a stakeholders’ meeting held at the party’s secretariat in Awka and presided over by the Secretary of the state Caretaker Committee of the party, Iyom Josephine Anenih, offices for the state executives of the party were zoned to the three senatorial zones of the state.

Details of the new zoning process picked Anambra Central to produce the State Chairman, Legal Adviser and Treasurer, while Anambra South would produce the State Secretary, Financial Secretary and Publicity Secretary, among other positions. Anambra North is to produce the Deputy Chairman, Youth Leader, Organising Secretary and Auditor, among other positions.

According to Iyom Anenih, the national leadership of PDP has directed the Anambra State Caretaker Committee to conduct the congresses at the ward, local government and state levels between November 25 and December 4, 2017.

The ward congress has been fixed for November 25, while the local government congress would take place on December 1. Similarly, the state congress would take place on December 4, while appeals arising from the congresses at the ward, local government and state levels were fixed for November 28, December 3 and December 5, respectively.

“The national leadership of our party has given us guidelines. We are going to change the pattern that we had been used to, which was that some people would stay in Abuja and compile lists.

“We want to do the right thing this time around by conducting credible congresses. The party says we should recognise zoning so that the various zones will get a bite at the leadership to ensure equity,” Iyom Aninih stated.

In his reaction, a former Deputy Chairman of the party, Mr. Ngozi Agudosi, called for the shift of the congress saying that there are issues in the party that need to be looked into so as to move forward.

His words: “Even as we are talking of congresses, some people who call themselves stakeholders have already compiled list of their cronies as party officials. In fact, we have it in good authority that some of the people being listed as officials of the PDP in Anambra State are loyalists of the state governor, which means that the governor of this state will be controlling PDP, in addition to controlling his party, APGA. If that happens, PDP will not have any chance during the national assembly election in 2019,

“What PDP needs is true reconciliation because without reconciliation, we won’t have a party. And I want to challenge members of the National Caretaker Committee that if they want PDP in Anambra to succeed, they should suspend the congresses and listen to the leaders of the party.

“For instance, Iyom Josephine Anenih cannot assume the position of the state chairman following the resignation of the chairman of the state caretaker committee, Professor A.B.C. Nwosu. The party did not even want to find out why he resigned. We cannot jettison somebody like ABC Nwosu in this party.

“Something is wrong somewhere. The proper thing is that once the chairman of the caretaker committee resigns, the entire committee stands dissolved because the members are not elected and they do not have the mandate of the people. So to me, the idea of issuing guidelines for the congresses is a charade.

“And trust our people, if they discover that the remaining members of the caretaker committee are going ahead with the congresses, court injunctions will start flowing from all the corners soon.

“Even the caretaker committee is divided. There is one faction led by the former majority leader in the state House of Assembly, Mr. Humphrey Nsofor, and there is one led by Professor ABC Nwosu, who has resigned. So there is no caretaker committee of PDP in Anambra State in the strict sense of it.”

Though no reason has been given for resignation of the former Caretaker Committee Chairman, Prof ABC Nwosu, it was gathered that it may not be far from the from the happenings in the party during the campaigns where a certain bigwig in the party was accused of high jacking the party and relegating the major stakeholders of the party to the background.

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