Acting Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Enugu State chapter, Elder David Aja has appealed to the party’s national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu to call the state Governor Sullivan Chime to order.
The appeal was contained in a petition writing by Aja to Mu’azu, urging the national chairman to use his office to prevent Chime from following through with his flagrant breach and violation of the party’s constitution.
Aja said in line with the letter from the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, he had already put in motion the process for calling a meeting of the State Executive Committee (SEC) for the purpose of appointing a new chairman.
The petition read: “You will recall that following the resignation of Engr. Vita Abba, as the chairman of the Enugu State chapter of our great party on October 20, 2014, I was, in accordance with the party constitution expected to take over the running of the party until the State Executive Committee, SEC, meets to appoint a new chairman from the area the previous one came from, pending the holding of an election for a new chairman.
“Mr. Chairman, you will recall that in total breach of the provisions of the constitution, the state secretary of the party, Steve Oruruo, purported to summon and preside at a meeting of the SEC on October 25, 2014, where Chief Ikeje Asogwa was illegally appointed the new chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the party.
“You will recall that I addressed a letter to you dated October 27, 2014 wherein I complained about the said illegal and unconstitutional appointment.
“Fortunately, the NWC harkened to my call and on October 30, 2014 I received my copy of the letter addressed to the national vice chairman (South East) wherein I was recognized as the acting chairman of the Enugu State chapter of our party, and I was instructed to summon a meeting of SEC within 14 days to appoint a new chairman from the zone where the out-going chairman hails from in accordance with the party constitution.
“In spite of the foregoing Oruruo purported to summon a meeting of the State Executive Committee, allegedly at the behest of two thirds of the members of the Committee on 31st October 2014.
Let me start by stating that under our party constitution, the chairman of the State chapter of the party, shall summon a meeting of the SEC at the request of two thirds of the members. Such request can only be addressed to the chairman or acting chairman as in this case.
“Thus, this power to summon the meeting, resides in the chairman and not the Secretary.
I did not receive any request to summon a meeting nor was I informed by Oruruo about any such request. Surprisingly, Governor Chime was present at the said illegal meeting and participated actively in it, in defiance of the directives of the NWC. Governor Chime and Oruruo then proceeded to appoint Chief Ikeje Asogwa, once again, as the chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Party.
Copied in the petition apart from Mu’azu whom it was directed to, were: PDP Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; the National Secretary, Prof. Adewale Oladipo; Deputy National Secretary, Onwe Solomon Onwe; National Treasurer, Alhaji Buhari Bala; National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha; National Auditor, Adewale Adeyanju; National Legal Adviser, Victor Kwon; National Woman Leader, Mrs. Kema Chikwe and others.
Meanwhile, loyalists of Chime had on Monday faulted claims by Ajah and his faction that the ward congresses held in the 260 wards in the state on Saturday.
This came as Enugu Professionals Forum, EPF, lambasted the Ajah-led faction for allegedly misinforming party members and the general public.
Speaking, the Public Relations Officer, PRO, of the faction, Dr. Okey Eze said it was “quite lamentable that Elder Ajah, working in concert with his benefactors, could deliberately misinform our party members and other Nigerians that the ward congresses held on Saturday. This was even as our teeming members knew that no congress took place in any of the 260 wards because the materials did not leave Abuja.
“Now, the questions to ask are: if they falsely claim that the ward congresses held, where did they get the materials from when we all knew that the panel members and the materials did not leave Abuja? And if they claim that they held the congresses, who supervised them? Where were the materials taken to?
“We wish to reiterate as our PDP chairman, Chief Ikeje Asogwa said earlier that no congress held in Enugu State. This is common knowledge to the members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party who, I’m sure, are looking into the matter.”
In its reaction, EPF in a statement by its interim President Nebechi Ugo, said it was “very embarrassing that somebody who claims to be leading a faction of the party could come out to say that congresses held in the wards when party members who gathered for the exercise knew quite well that it didn’t hold. What point was he trying to achieve?”
The group said it was even more surprising that the party’s Secretary of Ward Congress Committee for Enugu State, Usman Shehu Idris, was credited as saying that the congress in Enugu State was peaceful.
“For now, our position is to believe that he didn’t say what he was reported to have said, or that he was simply misquoted. He should be given that benefit of doubt to challenge that report.
Otherwise, he would be taken to task when he came to Enugu and on which congress he supervised, to come to the conclusion that it was peaceful, as he allegedly said.”
The group added that, “some people in the party are clearly playing sinister games against the PDP in Enugu State. Everyone in the headquarters of the party at Abuja knew that both the electoral officers and the materials meant for Enugu never left Abuja on the scheduled day.
The drama at Wadata Plaza where some people tried to hijack the materials and the same failed efforts to take away the materials from a police station in Wuse, Abuja, as widely reported in the media were pointer to the desperation of some Abuja-based politicians.”
EPF urged the national chapter of the party to check such desperation.