By Tony Edike & Clifford Ndujihe

The three-pronged battle for the soul of Enugu Peoples Democratic Party, PDP ahead the 2011 polls took a new dimension yesterday with the removed State Chairman, Engr. Vita Abba dismissing as false reports that the National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo had dissolved his exco.

There has been a push by the Ebeano Group led by immediate past governor,Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, to get the Enugu PDP exco dissolved and re-constituted, to give all camps equal opportunity. The move is said to enjoy the backing of former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo and Nwodo.

There were also reports that the push is calculated to stop Governor Sullivan Chime from getting re-elected so that the position would go the Nsukka zone, where Nwodo hails from. Another factor behind the battle is the belief that a re-constituted exco would favour a Northern presidential aspirant in line with the PDP zoning arrangement.

In a five-paragraph statement yesterday, Abba said that Nwodo had no power to dissolve the Enugu Exco without recourse to the National Working Committee, NWC and National Executive Committee, NEC.

Describing the action as undemocratic, biased and self-serving, the embattled state chairman said that Nwodo had no constitutional powers to dissolve any state executive.