Soludo: PDP chiefs, aspirants write Yar’adua

Written by Duncan Tuesday, 13 October 2009

More hurdles propped up in the way of the gubernatorial ambition of Professor Charles Soludo yesterday when chairmen of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in all the 21 local governments of Anambra State staged a peaceful protest at the party’s headquarters in Abuja demanding the conclusion of congresses to select the gubernatorial candidate.

Also yesterday in Abuja, 24 of the 46 governorship aspirants whose bid for the PDP’s ticket for the Anambra governorship election was thwarted by the party’s decision to field Soludo, threatened to go to court if the primary election was not concluded.

Both groups said they would write protest letters to President Umaru Yar’adua to wade into the crisis.

Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, was chosen by the party’s national working committee last week to fly the PDP flag in the February 2010 election, after moves to have consensus among the 47 aspirants failed and also after the party’s stakeholders in the state failed to agree on a candidate.

Earlier, PDP had planned to conduct a congress in Anambra to select a candidate for the guber poll, but a court order secured by some aggrieved aspirants stalled the process. The party tired to vacate the court order but failed to do that by Friday when the deadline for presentation of candidates to the electoral commission expired.

Yesterday in Abuja, the protesters under the aegis of ‘Concerned Constitutional Statutory Delegates from Anambra State for the Special Congress for the Gubernatorial Primary Election 2010’ stormed the PDP National Secretariat chanting songs to drive home their demands.

The party officials who came in 13 Liteace buses painted in white with PDP logo called on the National Chairman Prince Vincent Ogbulafor to conduct a credible governorship primary election where they would be allowed to exercise their franchise.

“We the delegates from Anambra State are still in Abuja waiting for you (Ogbulafor) to reconvene the meeting as you instructed us to wait and we will not depart for Anambra until you reconvene and conduct the special congress for which you invited us to Abuja,” they said in a letter to Ogbulafor.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards carried by the protesters read: ‘Mr President, Intervene in This Stalemate’, ‘NWC Purge Yourselves’, ‘No Primary No Candidate’, ‘We Say No to Imposition of Governorship Candidate’, ‘Mr President Save Anambra PDP from Ogbulafor’, ‘Allow us to Choose Our Candidate for 2010’, ‘NWC Correct This Anomaly’, and ‘We Demand to Exercise Our Constitutional Right’ among others.

The 24 aggrieved governorship aspirants threatening to go to court are Chuma Nwofor, Mrs Carol Nwosu, Basil Iwuoba, Princess Catherine Egwu, Dr Amachukwu Ezeke, Deacon Bernard Okeke, Chief Valentine Ozigbo, Senator Annie Okonkwo, Bar. Mike Nkwocha, Prince Victor Ezenwa, Nicholas Ukachukwu, Mrs Nkoli Imo, Chief Tony Ezeeru, Dr Felix Obiogbolu, Prince Emeka Eze, Mrs Chinyere Ndemba, Engr Bethram Dim, Mrs Suswan Ekwunife,  Mrs Victoria Nwankwo, Mrs Lovelyn Ebe, Mrs Oyibo Obasi, Chief Solomon Ekwenze, Chief  Samuel Ikefuna and Kenneth Odidika.

Nwofor, who said he was speaking on behalf of the 24 aspirants, alleged that Soludo as behind the court order that stalled the Anambra State congress because he knew he would not win.

Nwafor, who was flanked by Mrs Carol Nwosu, said the court order expired on Thursday last week and so the party could have held the primary election.

“What we want to say is that we have an inconclusive congress. We are prepared to complete this process. We have put ourselves before the judiciary that we will complete this process,” he said.

“If you know that you don’t have enough votes that could ensure your success, feel free to step down for others. Nobody can go behind the back door and get what does not belong to him. This is a rape on the face of the people of Anambra. This will not stand. On this, we have put up a letter to the President, NWC members and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that understand the need for due process to be followed on electoral matters,” Nwafor said.

But Soludo also yesterday attempted to mend fences. He appeared at the Rockview Hotel, where the aggrieved aspirants addressed a news conference and met behind closed doors with some of them.

Emerging from the 15-minute meeting, Soludo said efforts were on to reconcile with the aggrieved aspirants. “Frankly, people obviously having invested and put in their time and efforts in the process had expressed themselves about the process, which we have all regretted that it ended in a stalemate. But I think we are all resolved to work as one big family and that is ongoing,” he said.

“To God be the glory. God has destined that Anambra State must sing a new song. All I have done is to also reach out to my colleagues other aspirants and I think we are trying to build a very strong, united and formidable family. As one big family, all of us will go down together to Anambra State and win the election decisively.”