I am constrained to write you this open letter for posterity!

As you are aware I am a political activist, whistleblower and PDP stalwart with wide networks- I guide the privacy of my contacts and networks religiously and only use it to fight injustice for public interest.

I have championed the campaign and struggle for Owerri zone to produce the next governor since 2015 at the risk of my personal and long-standing relationship with the Okorocha family and Uche Nwosu. You could imagine the material things I have lost not supporting the present Imo first family and influential chief of staff Ugwumba Uche Nwosu to grab the 2019 governorship despite the fact he is constitutionally qualified to vie for governorship or any other position he desires. Being an in-law to Governor Rochas Okorocha is not a constitutional hindrance to his rights. It is only a moral issue but the real issue for me is that it is not the turn of Orlu zone to produce the next governor after Orlu sixteen years.

In 2015 I supported Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha head-on for governor at great risks. I did so on the nexus that he is credible and brilliant to be a good governor.

We lost in 2015 because senator Ifeanyi Arararume complained of a flawed PDP governorship primary skewed against him for Rt. Hon Ihedioha to have it. We took Senator Araraume for granted when he moved out of PDP with his followers to work with Gov Okorocha against Imo PDP and Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha hence we lost that election. We lost because we told Senator Araraume to go to hell hence he returned fire for fire and brimstone for brimstone. The rest is history.

For the 2018 Imo PDP governorship primary, I supported Senator Samdaddy Anyanwu just for his popularity and mass appeal across party lines in my desperation for Imo PDP and Owerri zone to produce the next governor. I have no regret supporting Senator Anyanwu on strong personal convictions and sincerity of purpose for Owerri zone. I have no personal grudge against Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha, I still like him a great deal.

Today Senator Samdaddy Anyanwu is complaining of a rigged and unfair primaries skewed against him for Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha and he went to court to seek redress yet there are no frantic and sincere efforts from stakeholders to settle this matter politically out of court. The lip service and pretenses will do us no good!

National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus didn’t hide his preference for rt.hon Emeka Ihedioha as gratitude for Rt. Hon Ihedioha support and efforts for him to become National chairman and for Emeka’s further support during the Markafi -Sheriff saga. While it is good to return gratitude for personal aggrandizement, it is equally dangerous to do so at the detriment of overriding public interest. Secondus will not be in Imo to deliver Imo PDP on the day of the governorship election, Ndi Imo will hence the people must always be allowed to make their choice without such manipulative intervention from Secondus.

National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus simply handed over the three-man ward ad-hoc delegates list to Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha in good time and only made available to Senator Samdaddy Anyanwu at the last minute. This is where the brutal unfairness is domiciled and any person contesting this is a devil and enemy of the tenets of internal democracy. Senator Anyanwu got the bulk of the 1200 plus votes from the statutory delegates while Emeka won with the majority of the controversial three-man ad-hoc delegates.

However, I am tempted to accept Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha as the Imo PDP gubernatorial candidate hence I went to work to seek reconciliation between Senator Samdaddy Anyanwu and Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha to save Owerri zone, Imo PDP and candidate Emeka Ihedioha from losing the next Imo governorship election.

From behind the scenes, I have engaged and advised Emeka Ihedioha, Samdaddy Anyanwu, Onyewuchi Ezenwa, and Ik Elezianya for brilliant and obvious reasons that it is in their hands to make or Mar the good chances of Owerri zone, Imo PDP and the candidate besides God and Ndi Imo. I didn’t mince words to advise them to make the needful sacrifice for the interest of Owerri zone as Owerri zone illustrious sons. They all refused. The bitter truth is that if they don’t make the sacrifice they ought to make, Orlu and Okigwe zones will not make the sacrifices for them. Orlu and Okigwe zones will simply take the advantage to rob Owerri zone of next governor.

I have advised for political solutions to resolve the Samdaddy Anyanwu court case. I insist that political solution is the best option and I want to urge you to step up on this.

I proposed to and advised Samdaddy to accept a Ministerial appointment, this didn’t go down well with him. He said he won’t accept because the primaries were rigged. I proposed to and advised Hon Onyewuchi Ezenwa to resign his senatorial ticket for Samdaddy and go back to House of Reps he vehemently refused and threatened court action should any quarter temper with his senatorial ticket. I proposed to and advise Ik Elezianya to resign his house of reps ticket for Hon Onyewuchi and go for a Ministerial appointment he declined fiercely at first and later calmed down to say that, if he must make a sacrifice for the interest of Owerri zone, all of them will do same. While Rt. Hon Ihedioha is under pressure to prevail on Onyewuchi to resign his ticket for Samdaddy, Emeka does not have the liver to do so, unknown to many.

At the end of the court case, Emeka could win but such winning will further divide Imo PDP and should Samdaddy take the extreme step after the Court case or even before the deadline for substitution, Imo PDP will be so divided and weak to win the 2019 Imo governorship election. I am one of those who strongly believes that without Samdaddy and his strong support base in PDP and with the people across party lines, Imo PDP will lose, Owerri zone will lose and candidate Emeka Ihedioha will lose as well. I wait to be proved otherwise.

I have engaged Chief Emma Iwuanyanwu, H/E Chief Achike Udenwa, Igolo Dr/Mrs. Kema Chikwe and some persons at NWC etc on this matter and have noted their mindsets.

I join others to frown at, how the elders’ council under the leadership of Chief Iwuanyanwu had handled this matter, they woefully failed to handle the matter as expected of elders. They took side after their first meeting and hurriedly made certain publication without anything concrete at hand. The likes of Dr J.C Odunna, Chief Nwoga, Chief Ambrose Ejiogu and Igolo Kema Chikwe are hell bent to ensure that Sen Samdaddy is retired politically for daring to contest the governorship primaries forgetting that Sen Samdaddy Anyanwu is courageous and fearless to take the greatest risk wherein he can as well rock the boat to retire all of us at Imo PDP. God will not allow this owerri enclave to retire me because I am yet to get anything tangible from PDP.

I guess you aware that H/E Atiku Abubakar, H/E Senator Saraki, Gov Wike etc have made a case for Senator Samdaddy Anyanwu to return to the Senate but Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha inner group rejected their intervention and entreaties.

I want to urge you as the state chairman to make further efforts and with sincerity of purpose on political solutions to resolve the quagmire. If your efforts didn’t achieve a political solution, then take it that PDP will lose the next governorship election in Imo state, mark my words.

PDP is an opposition party and in a state like Imo state with certain voting culture with Orlu playing the Lord. PDP will be faced with incumbent forces and the Nigerian factor. Imo PDP only need a popular candidate with mass appeal and across party lines to defeat incumbent forces, to defeat the likes of senator Uzodinma who is currently enjoying the patronage of the presidency and the dreaded senator Ifeanyi Araraume needless to emphasize other things!

I have made three trips to Abuja in the course of my intervention which cost me over 600k and nobody is listening!

The calculation that Atiku will win the presidential election and with that, PDP will enjoy bandwagon effect to win governorship elections etc is misleading and not a sure bet. Voting pattern for the 2019 general elections couldn’t be predicted to accuracy because the Nigerian people and Ndi Imo will vote across party lines. Some will vote PDP for the presidential election and vote APC, APGA, SDP etc for other positions.

I will now re-evaluate my intervention and perhaps resign further intervention and wish Owerri zone good luck!

 

Ebubeagu Ekenulo-
November 11, 2018.