Extremely disturbed by the absence of equity and fairness in the conduct of Sunday’s ward congress by the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in Ifakala ward, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, a group in the party, under the umbrella of the Advocates for Equity and Internal Democracy (A.E.I.D), has called for nullification of the congress, describing the conduct as a ‘Sham’.
In a communique issued shortly after the exercise at the Ifakala Central School field on Sunday a copy of which was availed to Nigeria Newspoint, the group led by Arch. Obidike Ndubuisi, Hon. Chibuzo Oguamanam, and Prince Ogechukwu Ekerue, noted that the congress did not reflect equity and internal democracy, which the party urgently needed to move forward in the ward, as they argued, that equity and fairplay also, demand that chairman of the party in the ward should not come from Owere-Nkalu bloc of the electoral ward.
The statement further, informed that, the Ifakala ward is made up of two blocs, Ifakala and Owere-Nkalu Autonomous Communities in Mbaitoli LGA, with Ifakala having the highest number of polling booths (10) while Owere-Nkalu has 6 booths to make a total number of 16(sixteen) polling booths in the ward, even as the group frowned at the selection of Mr. Augustin Ehirim as chairman of the party from the Owere-Nkalu extraction with only 6 booths.
According to them the so-called harmonized list excluded those qualified for party positions group in the Ifakala ward PDP, maintained adding that, it will never be party to any form of injustice meted on members by the Augustine Ehirim and Mrs. Maria Mbakwe- led faction of the party in the ward, which introduced the controversial harmonized list of nominees for elective positions.
The group, however posited that, for internal democracy to be restored in the party at the ward level, qualified candidates must be allowed to exercise their franchise and test for popularity in the party leadership devoid of imposition of candidates.
The group maintained that Hon. Chibuzo Oguamanam of the Ifakala extraction is most qualified for the position of ward chairman of the party, having satisfied the party’s constitutional requirements, as Mr. Ehirim, former Vice-chairman and Acting Chairman of the party, who hails from the Owere-Nkalu bloc with lesser number of polling booths among others is not qualified to head the party.
