PDP is dead in Enugu – APC

The All Progressives Congress on Tuesday said the protracted crisis in the Enugu State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party means that the ruling party will not be able to present a candidate in the state in 2015.

 

The chairman of the APC in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, said this at a news conference where he rejoiced over what he described as the “death of the PDP” in the state.

 

A bitter struggle between two factions, loyal to Governor Sullivan Chime and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, respectively, over the control of the party structure, has grounded the PDP in 

Enugu State, a few months to the polls.

 

The Chime camp, which insists that Chief Ikeje Asogwa is the chairman of the party, and the Ekweremadu faction, led by Elder David Aja, who was endorsed by the National Working Committee as acting chairman, have both gone to court to obtain court orders restraining each other from acting as the leadership of the PDP in the state.

 

Currently, there are strong indications that the Chime faction, which also obtained a court order that stopped the national secretariat of the party from acting on the delegates list presented by the Ekweremadu group, is shopping for an alternative political party platform to realise their aspirations in 2015.

 

There were unconfirmed reports that the Chime camp met on Tuesday to deliberate over a possible move to the All Progressives Grand Alliance.

 

Addressing journalists against the backdrop of the unfolding developments, as well as the controversy over the N11bn loan approved for Chime by the state house of assembly, Nwoye declared that the Enugu State PDP would not recover from the crisis.

 

The Enugu APC chairman noted that a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who was endorsed by Chime as the PDP consensus candidate, is making moves to join another political party in order to realise his gubernatorial hopes.

 

It is believed that the Ekweremadu faction, which is currently in charge of the party machinery, was not favorably disposed to Ugwuanyi’s ambition.

 

“APC is mourning the PDP in Enugu State, PDP as a political party in Enugu State is gone.

 

“Gburugburu (Ugwuanyi) is looking for another platform.

 

“The Ekweremadu group has used their legal prowess in Abuja to tie down PDP while the Chime group has tied down PDP in Enugu State.

 

“So it means that PDP will not be able to present a candidate in Enugu State in 2015.

 

“We are now mourning the demise of the PDP – the prayers of the people have finally worked,” Nwoye said.

 

 The APC chieftain noted that the opposition party was not responsible for the misfortune of the PDP in Enugu State.

 

Rather, he blamed the development on the PDP ruling class, who he said have failed Nigerians while enriching themselves.

 

He alleged that the N11bn loan approved for the Chime administration was fraught with irregularities and must be stopped by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

 

Accusing the banks involved in the loan – UBA and GTB – of conniving with the administration to “wipe away” and “siphon the future revenue of Enugu State.”

 

Nwoye urged Enugu State indigenes to stop banking with the two financial institutions.

 

In the same vein, an APC gubernatorial aspirant, Barr. Okey Ezea, faulted the state assembly for approving the loan.

 

Ezea, who said he would not honour the loan if elected in 2015, said the facility did not comply with provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

 

“That approval is null and void and of no effect and if the banks go ahead to advance that money, they will be doing so at their own risk because the court of law may declare it null and void, and the incoming government may not be bound to repay that loan,” Ezea said.

 

Ezea added that the 2013 report of Debt Management Office indicated that Enugu State has a debt profile of over N12bn as of December 31, 2013, and warned that if the governor obtains the fresh N11bn loan, he would bequeath a N23bn debt on the incoming administration.