By Tony Edike
ENUGU — LEADERS of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the South East geopolitical zone rose from a meeting in Enugu yesterday with a strong demand for the restoration of the position of the national chairman of the party to the zone.

The PDP leaders said they intend to invoke Article 14(5) of the party’s constitution to ensure that the top party position was occupied by a South Easterner.

To realize this objective, they have planned to submit the name of a nominee for the post of national chairman to the national secretariat of the party within the next two weeks.

This was part of the outcome of the meeting held at the Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu behind closed doors for about three hours yesterday.

Present at the meeting were the Deputy Senate President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the three PDP governors in the zone, Theodore Orji of Abia state, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi and Sullivan Chime of Enugu State.

Also at the meeting which was chaired by the National Vice/Zonal Chairman of the party, Chief Olisa Metu, were Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Senator Ebenezer Ikeyina, Senator Onyeabo Obi, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Chief Hope Uzodimma, Chief Mrs. Sally Egbogu, Engr. Vita Abba and members of the PDP Zonal Working Committee among other chieftains of the party from the five states of the zone.

According to the communique read by Metuh, the South East PDP leaders decided to demand that an indigene of the zone be appointed to fill the vacant position of the party chairman in view of the provision of the constitution of the party aforementioned.

They explained that the said section of the PDP constitution provides that the National Executive Committee of the party should appoint a substitute/replacement for the national chairman whenever the position is vacated by a serving chairman.

The party leaders explained that the provision specifies that the replacement should come from the zone of the immediate substantive chairman who so vacated the office and in this circumstance, South East should be the zone to so benefit since the last confirmed chairman of the party. Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo emerged from the zone.

Insisting that the South East was more qualified based on the provision of the party constitution, they pointed out that even if the tenures of Nwodo and Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, his predecessor were put together, they spent only 22 months as against 48 months specified by the PDP  constituion.s