ome members of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State have accused Governor Theodore Orji
of gaming the Peoples Democratic Party primary process in order to
impose himself and associates as party candidates. The irate party
members said Mr. Orji perfected a game to ensure that his own son
emerges as his successor after he leaves the seat of governor.
“Chief Theodore Orji knows he is very unpopular in the state.
Therefore he is conducted party primaries in order for handpicked
candidates for [a] majority positions in the state,” said one of the
senior party members opposed to the governor’s plan.
Our source and three other aggrieved party members said Governor Orji
had manipulated the process for choosing party delegates. “Instead of
allowing for elections, he merely wrote the names of people he wants as
delegates so that they [handpicked delegates] would agree to his choices
of candidates for the 2015 general elections,” another source alleged.
“There is no record of any election of delegates. The election of
delegates was slated for 1st of November in the state, but it did not
hold,” one party member said.
“Each local government area is supposed to have three delegates. To
our shock, the names of the three delegates from each LGA were
announced, but we are aware no elections held,” a spokesman for the
protesting group said.
Some of the disaffected members said they had written a protest
letter to the national leadership of the PDP in Abuja, to no avail. “We
complained and protested over the absence of any election that produced
the delegates, but that the party has so far ignored us,” said one
member.
In addition to the failure to elect delegates, the PDP members also
said that the election of candidates to represent the party in various
electoral contests for the 2015 elections also did not hold. “The
delegates were supposed to vote in the primaries to determine the
candidates for the State House of Assembly, Federal House of
Representatives, Senate, and governorship, but again elections were
held according to Governor orji’s terms,” the group insisted.
They said that even the handpicked delegates had expected to vote on
November 29th for party candidates, but they were disappointed as no
election held.
“They stayed in the queue till evening. They left when it became clear that no elections would hold,” one source said.
Despite the absence of elections,
Mr. Orji used state-sponsored media to claim that candidates had been
successfully elected by the Abia chapter of the PDP for all the
elections in 2015.
“I am very happy with the party delegates for conducting themselves
peacefully and casting their votes in an atmosphere that could be
described as free and fair,” Governor Orji was quoted as saying.
The aggrieved party members
argued that the state governor should have apologized for undermining
the primary process instead of gloating that the process had worked
credibly. “We expected an apology, and announcement of a new date for
the election to hold properly. Instead, the Abia State PDP went ahead
with the governor’s game, ignoring our complaints,” a member of the
group said.
“Olisa Metuh knows about this fraud, but he is quiet because the
arrangement is to keep loyalists in Abia to help President Jonathan
secure the state for the presidential election,” one aggrieved party
member said.
The most serious allegation by the PDP group is that Mr. Orji had
come up with a plan to impose his son, Chinedu Orji, as successor. “He
[Theodore Orji] is using a proxy known as Okezie Ikpeazu. One plan is to
make Okezie Ikpeazu the governorship candidate for the party in 2015
while Theodore Orji's son is supposed to be the Speaker of the State
House of Assembly. With this arrangement, Mr. Orji aims to continue
using Ikpeazu to siphon state's fund,” said the group’s spokesman. He
added that the governor’s alternative plan was to arrange for the
impeachment of Mr. Ikpeazu and the deputy governor using candidates he
plans to plant in the state assembly. “He wants his son to take over as
governor, because it is a stipulation of the constitution that the
speaker will take over if the governor and his deputy are impeached,”
the group stated.
The party members said the ties between the governor and Mr. Ikpeazu
were cemented after Mr. Orji appointed Mr. Ikpeazu to oversee SURE P
funds meant for cleaning Abia State. “Ikpeazu always took SURE P money
and handed it to the governor,” one of the members said.
Governor Orji's son, Chinedu, had earlier been disqualified from
contesting due to his membership of a dreaded cult gang that allegedly
attacked perceived enemies of his father. However he was mysteriously
"cleared" to contest despite his indictment for criminal cultism.
The primary election for the governorship candidate in Abia State is
scheduled for (today)Monday December 8th, but party members said they
were afraid it would not hold. Mr. Orji has another plan, should
elections proceed, the plot is to use different venues for accreditation
and voting or at best quarantine all the delegates who are already
lodged in hotels in Aba with their phones taken away from them until his
bidding is done.
They accused Mr. Orji of keeping the list of the ostensible delegates
who are to elect the party’s governorship candidate away from the
public. They added that Governor Orji and his son, Chinedu, had bribed
all local reporters to keep them from reporting on the undemocratic
practices and the shady primaries.
