INSISTS, HE SHOULD QUIT PARTY.
I have been inundated with calls and representations by well meaning stakeholders and concerned members of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over a recent statement credited to Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a supposed leader of party.
My reaction, upon confirmation of the statement, which was reported in the weekend edition of ImoTrumpeta, with the caption, “I regret voting for an Owerri Man for Governor in 2019 Election”, was that of shock and disbelieve.
It is a known fact that Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a Board of Trustees member of my party, has in recent times, displayed perennial tendency to act on a whim by displaying political behavior characterized by little or no forethought, reflection, or consideration of its consequences.
He has, in the past, easily gotten away with this tendency without developing the capacity for altering his own speeches and acts, especially to bring them into line with standard morals and social expectations. He has struggled with message discipline and poor audience choices, and again, with much room for errors.
As long as all of us continue to provide him with unlimited free pass on and off demand, we may become complicit in the damage he’s causing himself, the PDP and the polity.
Imo PDP and the people of Owerri Zone in general cannot keep standing around, thinking that Chief Iwuanyanwu will somehow notice that his size and intelligence are two different things and probably stop acting in provocative manner and indeed betraying his constituents and political party for his own self-interest.
Whatever pushed Chief Iwuanyanwu, Chairman of Owerri Peoples Assembly to abandon his mandate and his people of Owerri zone to, public declare a regret of his vote for Governor Ihedioha, from Owerri Zone, at a recent “road commissioning” ceremony organized by the illegitimate government of Imo State, is yet to be explained.
That speech fully exposed him as superficial and inauthentic, even before his new-found friends. They know he will still change, should power change hands, now or in the future. Chief Iwuanyanwu is eternally beholden to any government in power. There are proofs to this from previous administrations.
In 2019, Governor Emeka Ihedioha, in the history of Imo State, pulled off something that has changed the political system of the state. He led the party to win the entire 104 out of 105 Electoral Wards and all the 9 Local Government Areas in Owerri Zone. But Chief Iwuanyanwu’s bubble is too thick to recognize the world outside his window – that his one-man vote (though highly appreciated) and latter-day half support cannot eclipse the vast majority of votes and support Ihedioha earned from Imo people. He doesn’t understand the brand that is IHEDIOHA and the momentum following him.
It is on record, and I stand to be challenged that Chief Iwuanyanwu has benefitted from the sagacity, benevolence, capacity and friendship of Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha than any other leader in Imo State. Yet he has never spared any opportunity to show his ingratitude both to him, and to our great party, the PDP.
I don’t advocate that members our Party should quit, but I think Chief Iwuanyanwu has sacrificed all pretense of a genuine Party man to an overweaning need for relevance and a complete capitulation to this moneyed incumbency.
Chief Iwuanyanwu, some have argued, is a known local political bully. However, his unprovoked attacks on the PDP have gained no traction, but widespread derision. His penchant for giving undue allegiance to this morally challenged, Uzodimma led government risks further tarnishing his image and any known legacy.
Chief wuanyanwu’s utterances have caused a lot of anger among our members. He has deliberately acted in manners that have brought to question, his loyalty to our party.
Based on the foregoing and the level of embarrassment and damage he has caused our party, I may have no other option but to ask Chief Iwuanyanwu to, as a matter of urgency, review his membership of our great party.
This advise is for his own good, because, I doubt if he still commands any atom of respect or wields any influence in our party. There is no need enumerating how much he has used the PDP for political gold-digging.
In his best interest, I will further enjoin him to resign as a member of our party’s Board of Trustees and other organs and let us have our peace.
In the spirit of loyalty to our party, I wish to enjoin our teeming members to remain calm and committed to our party, even in the face of this avoidable provocation.
Thank you.
Chief ‘Madu Chinemerem
National Ex Officio, PDP
