Why I withdrew from Anambra PDP guber primary – Stella Oduah
The senator representing Anambra North in the National Assembly and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in the state, Stella Oduah, has attributed her withdrawal from the party’s primary election on Monday to imposition.
Specifically, the former Aviation Minister accused a former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, of bringing back the era of godfatherism in the state by imposing his former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Oseloka Obaze, as the party’s candidate in the November 18 governorship poll.
In a telephone interview on Monday night, she said last week’s ward congress was fraught with irregularity, adding that the delegates’ list was doctored to favour Obaze.
The lawmaker alleged that the returning officer of the ward congresses personally filled the result sheets that was submitted in Abuja and discarded the ones used in Akwa.
“This action of imposition affects the party fundamentally to the extent that those loyalists that have been in the party all this years and suddenly over night they are being replaced by other party members that got in in less than 36 hours by Peter Obi, is totally unacceptable. There must be incentive for loyalty. And so, party loyalists must have a say. And these loyalists look towards the party and when you deny their participation, you deny them that incentive they get from being the torchbearers of the party. And so, I think it’s morally wrong for this to happen.
“Secondly, we are just coming out from godfatherism that pervades the politics of Anambra PDP. Thank God for court judgement. We have left that era; only for Peter Obi to bring us back to that era where we will be subjected to one man imposing a candidate on us.
“The fundamental process that led to the three-man delegates was so chaotic and the default was so fundamental. My people were disenfranchised. Again, I don’t want to be part of that process because it is injustice.
“When you have imposition, you have blocked that hope for them. You have made it difficult and impossible for them to aspire to be anything within the party because you are telling them that at any given time you can bring somebody from anywhere to put on them.
“And lastly, bringing somebody outside the party who have not stayed for long, it means that you are saying that you lack capacity within party members. And I don’t think we lack capacity. I think PDP has enough capacity to run for that election,” she said.
The lawmaker said all of these could lead to the party’s defeat at the forthcoming governorship election.
Her words: “I believe that those who conducted the three-man delegates ward Congress have no intention of PDP winning the election. Otherwise they would not have done what they did”.
Recall that last week, Oduah had threatened to withdraw from Monday’s PDP governorship primary, on grounds that last week’s ward congresses was fraught with ‘irregularities and sabotage’.
According to her, she had petitioned the Chairman, PDP National Caretaker Committee, Ahmed Makarfi, for a review of the delegates’ list, failure of which would lead to her withdrawal from the exercise.
