* Igbo group are not PDP members – Ozichukwu

By Chioma Gabriel, Deputy Editor
Amongst the six geo-political zones in the country, the South-East geo-political zone doesn’t seem  to be properly involved in  mainstream politicking. The zone is not known to be agitating for any serious electoral position in mainstream political parties and are not running mates to presidential candidates of major parties. Yet, this is one zone that believes that come 2015, it would produce the next Nigerian Presidential.

The only place given to them by virtue of zoning in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was the position of  national chairman and even that seems to be slipping through their fingers.

In the scheme of things, that position has been occupied by the North, a situation that has denied them proper representation in the National Working Committee, NWC, of the ruling party.

Known to have produced the first indigenous governor-general in the person of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; the first military head of state in General Aguiyi Ironsi and Dr. Alex Ekwueme as Vice-President in the Second Republic, the South-East currently seems to be having a clash of interests among political leaders. The zone seems isolated.

When democracy returned  in 1999, the South-East retained the position of the Senate President for eight years but with the re-arrangement of the polity, the zone seems to have lost out in major political stakes in the polity.

Currently,  the Igbos are divided even though they are believed to be supporting the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan candidacy in the coming elections. Their support for Jonathan seems deficient in the sense that the South-East may have mortgaged its dream of producing president in 2015.

As it is, having the South-East to produce Nigeria’s president may take as long as another sixteen years. Political analysts opine that South-East leaders have sacrificed their opportunity on the altar of personal interests of the moment.

Recently, the issue of choosing the national chairman of PDP projected four notable leaders of the South East to the fore-front.

Some of those  considered for the job were former National Secretary, Chief Ojo Maduekwe (Abia State); the National  Vice-Chairman (South-East), Mr. Olisa Metuh (Anambra); a former National

Vice-Chairman(South-East) , Chief Fidelis Ozichukwu(Imo State); and a former President of the Senate, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim(Ebonyi}. These were invited to the screening by  a top South-East group but the invitation was not honoured by all of them.

Ojo  Maduekwe and Anyim Pius Anyim did not appear for screening. They were said to be pre-occupied with President Jonathan’s campaign. Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu said in his encounter with Saturday Vanguard that he was invited but because he did not see the PDP thumb-print in the invitation letter, he did not honour it.

“ I was invited for the screening of the potential candidates for selection. I acknowledged the fact that those who invited me were very distinguished Igbo leaders. But I have one reservation that  who becomes the national chairman is the issue for  the party. It is a party affair. So, when I was invited, I did not attend and was not interviewed because I believe the responsibility of who becomes the party chairman is the responsibility of the party.

In as much as  I respect the Igbo group for what they did ,  there are contingencies and exigencies. PDP members from the South East are bold and courageous. But I also know the leadership of PDP which includes the President, the Vice President and Board of Trustees Chairman and Acting national chairman will not be fundamentalists on Sundays and revolutionalists on weekdays because they are consistent people. God is in-charge.

Nigerians are watching and very conscious. If the PDP had invited us for screening, it would be a different matter. PDP is beyond the South East and I don’t see a concordance and a con-current in those who invited us for interview.

*Pius Anyim, Olisa Metuh and Ojo Maduekwe

They are Igbo leaders of high distinction  but some of them are not of PDP. I did not see the high hierarchy of PDP leadership of the South East including the Governors, Deputy Senate President , Chief whip and zonal leaders.

They are not represented in the invitation that  I got. It will be difficult to think that PDP national leadership will delegate this kind of responsibility to non- PDP leaders in the South East. I have high regard for these people but the national leadership of PDP is beyond these.

We cannot allow impulse to override calculation or sentiment to override logic. I know these may be people who really care for the plight of Ndigbo but I don’t expect the leadership of PDP to delegate the responsibility of who becomes national chairman of PDP to non-PDP members.”

For Third Republic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Elvis Agunwa Anekwe, giving the due of the South East to them is taking time.

“We are keeping  our fingers crossed hoping that the presidency will start the process of choosing the national chairman of the PDP. . The South East where PDP National chairman  was zoned to did not have it immediately.

The entire South East is shut out of the process. I think the problem is that we don’t understand what is happening. The national chairman  is the person to represent us in the National Working Committee of PDP in the post elections. Who will represent us in the choice of Speaker, Senate President and  the heads of  parastatals ?

The position of national chairman of PDP belongs  to the South East. The NWC  is the committee that runs PDP on a daily basis. If we have nobody to represent us during these processes, the chair will have no clout if he gets elected after the election.

We must have that position before the elections or it would be useless.

“ We know what happened after Nwodo left.  The South-East  governors expressed fear after what happened with Nwodo but they later changed their position and the time for the PDP national chairman to be announced is now, not when it has become too late.

I understand that Nwodo and Chime did not get along together after chime helped to make him PDP chairman but not everybody is like that. I was the Speaker once and I didn’t fight with Ezeife who was my governor then or with Nwodo who was Enugu state governor then. So, all that should change. We need the PDP national chairman now.”

Chief Dan Ulasi, the PDP state chairman from Anambra state who was also short-listed agrees with Anekwe saying the substantive PDP national chairman should be appointed now.

“ There is a hierarchy on Igbo leadership. It is for us to produce the national chairman of PDP because it is zoned to the South East. Dr. Nwodo just left office because there was so much quarrel between Nwodo and Enugu governor and that brought fear to South East governors. But the truth of this matter is that their duties are divided.

The Enugu governor helped Nwodo to become national chairman of PDP and what happened afterwards  created fear in the hearts of other governors. And I don’t think that is necessary because their duties are clearly separated.

The PDP national chairman has no business with  the business of the state governor and vice-versa. So, I don’t really understand it but it created fear in the minds of governors and so, when Nwodo left, the silence was a bit long until an Igbo leadership group with clearance from PDP invited us to a screening. About ten of us were invited and asked questions.

I answered the questions and the names of four of us were published. So, it’s beyond me to say who emerges finally but I hope good comes of it. I hope the South-East gets its position in the NWC of the party”.