From Romanus Ugwu and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

Former Senator representing Imo East Senatorial district, Samuel Anyanwu, yesterday, insisted that he is the choice of the South East geo-political zone for the positi on of the national secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party( PDP).

He stated this  at the PDP National Secretariat,  Wadata Plaza, shortly after submitting his nomination form for the October 30 national convention.

This is coming as a member of the PDP National Executive Committee ( NEC), Okey Muo-Aroh, insisted that there was no agreement on who should be the South East consensus candidate for the position of national secretary.

Consequently, Muo -Aroh, yesterday, submitted his nomination form to contest for the PDP national secretary position. The NEC member told journalists at the party secretariat that he was opposed to impunity.

The PDP national vice chairman (South East), Ali Odefa, had in statement last weekend announced Anyanwu as the consensus candidate of the zone for the position of national Secretary.

However, the announcement was trailed by protests as some stakeholders in the South East alleged that Anyanwu was imposed on the zone.

Nevertheless, the former lawmaker said he could not have been imposed on the South East, as the  PDP leaders in the zone are behind him.

“I can never be imposed by anybody;  because I am a moving machine for the party. I have never lost election in PDP even when it mattered most, I have always won in Imo state.

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“The South East, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi, there is no leader that does not know who I am. I am a very humble person, I am very humane and of course a pure and true loyal party member that everybody wants to listen to. There is no problem in the South East.”

     Meanwhile, the internal wrangling among the legacy parties that coalsced into  the All Progressives Congress (APC) over who produces the next national chairman of the party has assumed disturbing dimensions after the conclusion of the state congresses across the country last weekend.

Though the ruling party has not openly made a categorical statement on the zoning arrangements it plans to adopt for both its national leadership and elective positions, there were strong indications that the inability of the legacy parties to have a common consensus might pose danger to the fragile peace within the party.

A party source told Daily Sun that the fact that the greater number of aspirants  were from the north, an indication that the party may have tactically zoned the chairmanship position there, the lingering issue of which of the legacy parties should produce the next chairman was ripping the party.

The source said at the root of the controversy is the fact that since other legacy parties like the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) have produced the party’s national chairman, it was now the turn of the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) to produce the next  chairman.

“The issue of which zone will produce the next national chairman of our great party seems to have been resolved with majority of the aspirants indicating interest, coming from the north. The biggest problem facing the party is the interests and disagreement from members of the legacy parties over who deserves to produce the next national chairman.

“Some of the postures include the claim from the CPC that since ACN produced the first national chairman, Segun Osoba and Adams Oshiomhole, while ANPP produced Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, it is now the turn of the CPC to take a shot at the position,” he said.

Osita Okechukwu, wondered why party faithful would be dissipating energy on the chairmanship position when the party is bedevilled by crisis in almost all the states following the just concluded congress.

“I think they should take care of the crisis on ground before thinking about the chairmanship position.”