From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The leadership tussle between the Anyaehie-led state executive and the Vitalis Okafor Caretaker Committee, again, degenerated into fisticuffs yesterday.
The High Court in the state, sitting in Orlu, last week, sacked the Anyaehie-led exco and reinstated the caretaker committee.
Trouble started when a group loyal to the sacked state chairman, Nnamdi Anyaehie, barred members of the caretaker committee and some chieftains who had arrived the state party secretariat from holding a meeting.
In the melee that ensued, armed mobile policemen who manned the secretariat were reinforced to contain the situation.
Amidst the confusion, the gate of the secretariat was locked while rival groups traded accusations of anti-party activities and allegedly playing out the script of Governor Rochas Okorocha to nail the coffin of the party ahead of 2019.
The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Dr. Chidi Onuoha attributed the problem to the activities of those he alleged to have been bought over by the All Progressives Party (APC) to frustrate conduct of the forth-coming congress of the party.
Onuoha recalled that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, at the expiration of the tenure of the Anyaehie executive, installed a caretaker committee to pilot the affairs of the party pending the conduct of a fresh congress and wondered why the Anyaehie-led executive, which later challenged its dissolution in court and still lost, should insist on remaining in office. “Imo PDP is nobody’s personal property and it is guided by a constitution and anybody qualified is free to contest and nobody should be short-changed,” Onuoha stated.
However, Daily Sun could not reach Anyae for his reaction on the renewed fight as several calls put to his mobile phone went unanswered.
