Thursday, 25 October 2012

Ogbemudia, Akhigbe Battle Anenih


230712N.Bamanga-Tukur.jpg - 230712N.Bamanga-Tukur.jpg
Party’s National Chairman Dr. Bamanga Tukur

Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The battle for the control of the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has now shifted to Abuja as a faction loyal to Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia and Admiral Mike Akhigbe (rtd) has urged the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, to sack the faction loyal to Chief Tony Anenih.
The plot to remove the Anenih faction is hinged on the recent sack of the Adamawa executive that is loyal to Governor Murtala Nyako.
According to a letter to Tukur dated October 23 and jointly signed by Dr. Francis Omo-Osunde Iyasere and Solomon Ebuwa on behalf of Edo PDP stakeholders, they complained that it was undemocratic for Anenih to control the state chapter of PDP since he came from a senatorial zone that has only 15 per cent of the population of the state.
They said as the state is preparing for local government election, it has now become imperative to dissolve the state executive committee as their continued stay in office may spell doom for the party.
“For PDP to make remarkable impact in the forthcoming local government election, the right thing has to be done. And of course, if the right thing is done, indiscipline would have been totally eliminated from the party but if the right thing is not done, victory will again elude the party.
“To re-invigorate the party, as we earlier posited, is to first dissolve the present state and local government executive committees because they are not the true reflection of the interest of others leaders, including  Dr. S.O. Ogbemudia , Admiral Mike Akhigbe and others.”
They alleged that Anenih, the former chairman of the Board of Trustees, singlehandedly handpicked the present state executive committee without inputs from other stakeholders in the state.
“The present state, local government and ward executive committee were handpicked by Anenih, and of course, this cannot be said to be justifiable and true reflection of the interest of wider membership, as members of the committees were imposed.
“In our previous submission to you, we x-rayed the reason for the poor performances of PDP, in all the elections so far conducted in Edo State under the leadership of Chief Tony Anenih and his handpicked chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, without regard to the objection raised by Ogbemudia, Akhigbe and other key stakeholders.
“The time to act is now. The zone where Ogbemudia hails from, which is Edo South senatorial district accounts for 58 per cent of the population of the state while Akhigbe’s zone, which is Edo North senatorial district accounts for 27 per cent and Anenih, the central district senatorial accounts for 15 per cent.
The question is, should a zone which accounts for just 15 per cent continue to decide the fate of the majority in a democracy?,” it asked.
The Ogbemudia-Akhigbe faction also called for the suspension and the withdrawal of the list of board appointees submitted earlier from Edo State with a view to submitting an all inclusive list from the political gladiators.
ThisDay

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