By Tony Edike
Enugu — The resignation of Dr. Okwesilieze  Nwodo as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday got Enugu State politicians cracking. While the camp of Governor Chime Sullivan Chime, which battled headlong with the Nwodo camp for seven months heaved a sigh relief, the exit of the PDP chairman has raised fresh political calculations in the Coal City.

Following the emergence of Dr. Nwodo as PDP National Chairman on June 16, 2010 the political terrain in the state became unpredictable and there were clear signs that all was not well especially for the political camp of the governor.  It was a known fact that Chime gave Nwodo all the support he needed to get to the top party position and this was evident in the lavish reception organised in his honour by the Enugu State Government in conjunction with other South Eastern states shortly after his emergence.

But the romance between Chime and Nwodo soon fizzled out as some members of the party, who had been shut out from political appointments and other activities of the party from the time Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani was at the helm of affairs felt that with Nwodo they could return to political relevance once more.

Chime who inherited over 80 per cent of Nnamani’s appointees since he came on board in 2007, was seen by this set of politicians as a stumbling block to the realisation of their ambitions hence they filed behind Nwodo and before long, what is now known as the Nwodo group (faction) in Enugu PDP emerged and constituted a major opposition to Chime’s government.

The Nwodo group coordinated by his younger brother and former Minister of Information, Chief Nnia Nwodo, went ahead to divide the governor’s structure of the party which was led by Engr. Vita Abba to enable it have a foothold on the party preparatory to the party’s primary elections.

Six gubernatorial aspirants later emerged from the Nwodo group and initiated moves to wrestle the PDP structure from the governor’s camp which has Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Sen Ayogu Eze (Enugu North) as strong backers.

In a bid to realize their ambition, the gubernatorial aspirants including Chief Anayo Onwuegbu, Barr. Okey Ezea, Mr. Valentine Nnaedozie, Dr. Obiora Eneh, Arc. Alex Obiechina and Dr. Uche Ogbu and other aspirants for the national and state assembly positions jointly resolved to pursue their ambitions under the Nwodo camp.

This led to the agitation by the group to have the state party executive led by Abba dissolved and Nwodo bought the idea. Nwodo had repeatedly said that since the INEC had described the 2008 Congresses of the party in the state as inconclusive, it was therefore necessary to hold fresh congresses before the 2011 elections to avoid a situation where the electoral body would reject candidates from the state.

However, Chime and his supporters opposed the move seen as an attempt by Nwodo to hijack the party for his selfish political interest.

As the dispute escalated Nwodo dissolved the party EXCO through a statement by his Media Adviser, Ike Abonyi but the action irked some members of the National Working Committee who disowned Nwodo’s decision on his state party executive.

Chime’s group resisted the dissolution of the state executive and sued Nwodo and the party’s national leadership at the Federal High Court Enugu from where they obtained an injunction restraining the party from tampering with the Abba executive. The court order was vacated within two weeks and Chime’s group appealed, but the Court of Appeal, Enugu also lifted its injunction against the party in favour of the applicants (Chime’s group).

This paved the way for Nwodo’s supporters to hold fresh congresses at the Ward, Local Government and State levels on December 29, 30 and 31, 2010 respectively. The congresses which were ordered by the National Working Committee, NWC, after it formally dissolved the Abba executive, however, gave birth to the Caeser Okey Ogbonna-led state executive committee.

The Nwodo group went further to conduct ward congresses and elected three-man delegates from each ward who in turn participated in the primary elections. The group later elected Barr. Okey Ezea as the party’s governorship candidate.

On its part, the Chime group conducted its primaries with the delegates produced by the dissolved Vita Abba-led executives.  Chime and most members of the national and state assemblies in Enugu West and Enugu East senatorial districts were given return tickets.

Their primaries were restricted to the two zones in compliance with the peace pact brokered by President Goodluck Jonathan who waded into the dispute between Nwodo and Chime. The two camps had agreed to share the party structure on a 50 – 50 ratio but the sharing formula was later jettisoned.  Rather, Nwodo and Chime after further consultation with the president, shared the elective positions. While Chime’s camp was allowed to produce candidates from Enugu East and West senatorial districts, Nwodo was asked to produce the Senatorial, three House of Representatives and nine House of Assembly candidates from his Enugu North.

Although the Nwodo’s camp elected candidates from Enugu North through primary elections as directed by the president, the Chime’s group was said to have taken steps to return Sen Eze, the Senate spokesman and three members of the House of Representatives who did not participate in the primary elections conducted by the Nwodo group in Enugu North.

While the tension generated over the conduct of the party primaries by the two camps continued to heat up the atmosphere within the party, Chime’s group apparently fearing that Nwodo could scuttle the governor’s re-election bid as well as those of his supporters already elected as flagbearers, moved a step ahead of Nwodo and procured an interim order from the State High Court restraining Nwodo from parading himself as a member and National Chairman of the party.

The order given by Justice Reuben Onuorah on the eve of the PDP National Convention and Presidential primary was all that the Chime’s group needed to remove Nwodo from his position. Nwodo’s eventual exit from the office was widely celebrated by Chime’s supporters who believed that peace would return to the party since their arch enemy regarded as the brain behind the crisis that engulfed the party since the past seven months had given way.

But Nwodo’s exit may not be a total relief for Chime and his supporters as there are other hurdles which they have to cross in their bid to retain control of the state. Apart from the possibility of Nwodo and his followers decamping to another political party to continue their fight against Chime, his former sponsor and senator representing Enugu East, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani and the undying Ebeano political family could sink the PDP if the current campaign being mounted by the group at the grassroots and on the airwave (radio stations) are to be taken seriously.

The six gubernatorial contestants in Nwodo’s camp were said to be consulting with other aggrieved PDP stalwarts like former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, Presidential Adviser on power, Prof Barth Nnaji, former Health Minister, Dr. Silas Ilo, Sen Fidelis Okoro, Dr. Hyde Onuaguluchi among political leaders opposed to Chime’s camp, on the next line of action following the exit of Nwodo.

A member of the Nwodo’s group said barring last minute change, the group would in the next two or three days announce a new platform under which they would contest the governorship poll.

Sen Nnamani and the Ebeano, on their part, had before the PDP crisis escalated defected to the People for Democratic Change, PDC.  The group has since nominated Dr. Dan Shere, former secretary to the state government, SSG under Nnamani administration from Nsukka Local government in Enugu North senatorial zone as its gubernatorial candidate with a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. K.G.B. Oguakwa from Enugu West as his running mate.

Nnamani is also seeking re-election into the senate on the platform of PDC and the party had since November last year embarked on serious political campaigns with a view to wrestling power from Chime and his supporters in April elections.

The PDC’s decision to nominate governorship candidate from Enugu North from where the ousted PDP National Chairman, Dr. Nwodo hails could elicit the sympathy of the people of the area for the Nnamani’s group if Chime fails to manage the resentment that the removal of Nwodo would likely create among PDP supporters in Nsukka area.

The implication of Nwodo’s exit on the PDP in the state might not be felt in Enugu West and Enugu East but that cannot be said of his Nsukka zone which had regarded Nwodo’s position as the highest political office that any indigene of the area had occupied under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Having removed the son of that zone from the top party position, the people of Nsukka may fight back and the consequences could cause havoc in the camp of Chime.

But Chime appears to be unshaken by the threat which Nwodo’s exit would pose to his re-election bid as his supporters from Enugu North including Sen Eze whose tickets were traded off under the peace pact between the governor and Nwodo, could deliver the votes of Nsukka people to the governor. That will however depend on their ability to recover their tickets from PDP or secure another platform with which they can contest the April elections.

However, unfolding events after the exit of Nwodo from the Wadata Plaza, would go a long way to determine whether peace would return to the PDP in Enugu State or not before the forthcoming elections.