By Ike Chima
A group known as Critical Stakeholders, Imo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has, once again, written to the Acting National Chairman, Umar Ililya Damagun and the National Working Committee, highlighting reasons the candidate of PDP in the November 11, 2023 governorship election, Senator Samuel Anyanwu otherwise known as Samdaddy, be asked to step down as the national secretary of PDP.
In a letter entitled “Save Imo PDP from disgrace and extinction”, addressed to the acting national chairman and made available to journalists in Owerri, the Critical Stakeholders, through its chairman, Chief Eric Ofodirinwa, alleged that Senator Anyanwu’s current political dispositions do not really show he was serious with the forthcoming governorship election.
According to it, “Recall that in our previous correspondences, we had graphically and elaborately brought to your notice, the unmitigated dereliction of duties of our PDP candidate for the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Imo State, in the person of Senator Samuel Anyanwu who also doubles as the national secretary of our great party”.
The Critical Stakeholders revealed that all the ills affecting the party in the state were caused by Samdaddy’s dereliction of duties.
It says, “We, as Critical Stakeholders as well as leaders of Imo State chapter of the PDP, had dutifully brought to the fore, the several reasons why the party is currently at the brinks of collapse and sorrowfully facing a speedy and inexorable extinction.
“Our honest submissions after painstaking investigations and wide consultations, for the purposes of saving Imo PDP from further decay and decapitation, are summarized herein”.
The group goes ahead to highlight what it considers as Senator Anyanwu’s wrong doings.
It states that “It smacks of political naivety for one person, in this instance, Senator Anyanwu, to be tenaciously functioning as the national secretary of our great party and simultaneously operating as the candidate of our party for the forthcoming governorship election.
“This jagged dual capacities of Senator Anyanwu have rendered him ineffective given the weighty demands of these offices.
“It is evident that this is the major reason many of our members have continued to exit the party in droves. It is generally ascertained that our candidate for the Imo governorship election has not shown any sign of seriousness ever since he emerged the PDP standard bearer. This is so because, rather than settling down in Imo to build the party and establish it on the sound path of victory, Senator Anyanwu has been busy junketing from state to state as he still sees himself primarily as a national officer of PDP and least as the candidate of the party for the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Imo State”.
The Critical Stakeholders further narrated what it labels as the effects of the national secretary’s misbehaviour. “The effects of Senator Anyanwu’s gross misconduct and nauseating activities have had a disastrous effect on our great party that they can no longer go unnoticed in view of their harrowing consequences.
“It is with pains in our hearts that we report the terrible and ugly developments in our party headquarters. The rent of our secretariat has expired for sometime now and the Landlord is threatening to throw the party out of his property if the rent is not paid soonest. This is shameful and hitherto unheard of.
“The workers therein are owed arrears of salaries as we speak. To make matters even worse, there is a notice of retrenchment of the workforce as well as slashing of salaries of the few workers who eventually survive the so called harmonization.
“It is very disheartening to report that a visit to the Imo State PDP Secretariat in Owerri shows that it looks like a ghost town that has been completely deserted.
“In spite of these ugly developments, our candidate, Senator Anyanwu contnues to behave like the proverbial king who chases rat while his kingdom is on fire. This goes to confirm our earlier contention that Senator Anyanwu is just a mole of APC in our party as he does not mean well for PDP, particularly as concerns the November 11, 2023 Imo State governorship election. We say it on strong authority that Senator Anyanwu is a facilitator for Governor Hope Uzodinma to win his re-election on November 2023”, it noted.
The group’s prayers are thus, “Based on these, we therefore call on the National Working Committee of our great party to urgently save Imo PDP from the brink of total collapse by prevailing on Senator Anyanwu to step down as the national secretary of PDP to enable him concentrate and manage his candidacy of the party.
“We make bold to state that given the extant state of affairs in the party in Imo State, Senator Anyanwu is no doubt working for the re-election of Governor Hope Uzodinma of APC. If the National Working Committee continues to ignore these omnious warning signs, the inevitable outcome is that Imo State PDP would have lost the November 11, 2023 election, even before campaigns start in mid-June. When the impending disaster occurs, do not say we did not warn you”.
