Will the recent mass exodus of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) signal a death knell of the opposition party in Imo State?
The fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State was torpedoed dramatically on January 14, 2020 when the Supreme Court annulled the election of Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of the state and affirmed Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election in the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on March 11, 2019, declared Ihedioha as governor-elect after he defeated Uche Nwosu who ran under the Action Alliance Party (AA) after polling 273,404 votes.
But surprisingly, Uzodimma, the APC candidate who was announced a distant fourth with a total votes of 96,458, was declared the winner after he had gone to court to complain that his lawful votes from 388 polling units were excluded by the electoral body.
The inclusion of the 213,295 votes from these polling units catapulted Uzodimma’s votes to 309, 717 votes, thus dwarfing Ihedioha’s 273,404 votes.
As is the usual norm in Nigerian politics, this victory did not only catapult the then opposition party to the status of ruling party, but also saw the mass exodus of PDP members to the APC.
The gale of defections started early when less than twenty fours after the Supreme Court judgment, nine members of the state House of Assembly defected from their various parties to the APC.
Among the defecting members were three from PDP. It did not stop there. A week later, the Speaker of the state assembly, Chiji Collins, who had earlier defected from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to PDP to enable him clinch the speakership, led seven other PDP lawmakers to the APC.
The action of the lawmakers led other members of the PDP to defect to the ruling APC.
Indeed, even trusted political associates of Ihedioha jumped ship after his fall from grace. They included his Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment, Eze Ugochukwu; the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Damian Opara; State Youth Leader of PDP, Aburi Williams Ahanonu; Legal Adviser, Jerry Egemba, some national officers and LGA chairmen, amongst others.
However, the gale of defections reached a climax when the entire state executives of the party, led by a former chairman, Charles Ezekwem, all moved to the ruling party. The defectors were given a rousing welcome by Governor Hope Uzodimma, who did not only receive them at the state secretariat of the party, but also gave them another lavish reception at the Government House.
Amid allegations that the defectors were compromised, the move has received kudos and knocks from political analysts.
Two of the defected lawmakers, Eddy Obinna, representing Aboh Mbaise State Constituency and Sam Otuibe, representing Ahiazu Mbaise, described PDP as a “dead party in Imo State”.
But PDP appeared not to be leaving anything to chance as it has vowed to do everything to save the fortunes of the party.
As a first start, the party has chosen a new acting chairman, Martin Ejiogu, while it has also appointed a seasoned journalist, Ogubundu Nwadike as the acting State Publicity Secretary to replace Ezekwem and Opara respectively.
Ejiogu, in his first outing described the defectors as “gold diggers”, who are only interested in their pockets.
He advised the All Progressives Congress to be wary of the defectors.
“Their exit from our party is a relief and positive development for our great party because, for long, they have remained huge liabilities to the great party,” Ejiogu, said.
Ejiogu stated that the defectors constituted “a band of Senator Samuel Anyanwu’s loyalists, who worked against the interest of the party during the 2019 general elections.”
“Besides, they have in principle left the party a long time ago; what played out was a mere drama”, he said.
A PDP stalwart, Madu Chinemerem, insisted that the party “is much alive in Imo State” notwithstanding the gale of defections in recent times.
Chinemerem, a former PDP Coordinating Chairman of LG Chairmen and former Chief of Protocol, Imo Government House, said, “By virtue of my position as an “insider”, I know I am right. I feel I am in a position to set the records straight and save the unwary members of the public from falling victims.
“First and foremost, I want to authoritatively state that PDP is very much alive in Imo State. Hence, there is no question of talking about the death and burial of PDP in Imo State. And even if there was anything wrong with Imo PDP, the duo of Eddy Obinna and Sam Otuibe are the most unqualified and most unlikely people to declare it.
“I say that confidently because I have evidence and proof that they were peripheral emergency members of Imo PDP and will operate from the margins even in APC despite their overtime effort to impress their newfound master.
In his own reaction, the new publicity scribe, Nwadike, assured that “a new PDP will surely rise from the shackles of the old” and described the APC as party “temporarily” in government.
He said that for now, the party is in reconciliation process, after which the state working committee will be constituted to organize congress for the party
However, Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, said that the PDP members defected because they saw “sincerity of purpose” in the Uzodimma-led administration.
“The PDP members that joined APC were convinced about the sincerity of the purpose-driven administration. It was a move that came out of their heart and as patriotic Imolites, they decided to join Uzodimma to build Imo where everybody will be proud of”, he said.
