The state chapter of the PDP has just held special conference. What formed the basis of the meeting?
The Anambra State Chapter of our great party, PDP, has resolved to take over Anambra State Government House in the coming governorship election. PDP in Anambra lost the Government House to APGA in 20o6, due to our carelessness and since then, we had continued to play the role of opposition party.
Anambra State belongs to PDP but we had continued to remain behind. We have just told our members to keep faith and be firm, because, this is the time God has preserved for us to possess our possessions. It is high time we reclaimed what rightly belongs to us.
We have just told party loyalists that this period is not the time for us to dwell in blame games, but the time for us to forgive each other, work together with one another in order to achieve our goals.
We are telling our members that weeping will endure for the night but joy comes with the morning. Our night as PDP members in Anambra has endured for so long. We have endured so long. It will still be severe for us in the coming months till after the governorship election when all our members will come together to sing the victor’s song. We enjoin all our members to keep faith and endure because the days of our triumphant song are closer.
I want to state categorically that PDP is the party to beat in the 2017 election in Anmabra. PDP will contest the governorship election and will produce the next governor of Anambra State. Election is a matter of strategy. As time progress, we shall continue to unfold our strategy.
What have you been able to achieve for the state chapter of your party since 2011 that you assumed office?
I did not want to be PDP chairman just for answering that name. My mission is to liberate the party from the shackles of the forces holding it down. Again, I want to be part of the team that will install progressive government in Anambra State under the PDP platform. I think we have almost succeeded in the former, because, PDP today has one faction in Anambra and all those forces disturbing the peace of the party have all gone to roost. I believe, by the grace of God, we shall install PDP governor in the Awka Government House this year; after which, I will know that I have accomplished my task as state chairman.
In successive elections, PDP in Anambra has been making efforts to take over government from APGPA without success. How is the 2017 scenario going to be different?
For the period you are talking about, stakeholders of PDP in the state, due to greed and avarice, have continued to mortgage what belongs to our party. Because of this reason, APGA in Anambra has been operating under the franchise of PDP. The reason why APGA has been winning the state is that the party has been playing on the whim of PDP.
Today, I am sure that Ndi Anambra will not like to continue with what we have in the state under APGA government. Anambra has been in the minority for long because; Anambra has no say at the centre. At the centre, we are nowhere. As the centre of the Igbo nation, Anambra cannot continue to stand alone; and since Anambra cannot afford to stay in isolation, APGA government cannot continue to rule the state. Anambra cannot continue to remain under APGA because; a lot of things are going wrong.
In your meeting, you raised the issue that Governor Obiano has continued to violate the constitution. Can you elaborate on that?
The governor is aware that he is violating the constitution by not conducting council polls in Anambra. We are only reminding him of the need for him to obey the constitution. The constitution is sacrosanct. The constitution provides for the running of the local government system through elected chairmen and councilors. Obiano cannot change it. He is calming that there is an amended local government law in Anambra State which empowers him to appoint Transition Committee, but we are telling him that the constitution is very clear on that. When any law is inconsistent with the constitution, that law, to extent of that inconsistency, shall remain void.
Again, the Speaker of the House of Representatives has said it that any governor who is operating Transition Committee or whatever name it is called, outside elected representatives, is breaching the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
We are reliably informed that Governor Willie Obiano is planning to appoint members of APGA in Anambra into Transition Committee. We have written to the appropriate authority, because, it is totally unacceptable; and we shall do everything within the confine of the law to stop him.
Some PDP bigwigs are dumping the party for the APC. What are your feelings about this given the fact that your party is planning to take over Anambra State?
Honestly, we are not aware that any bigwig has left our party for APC or any other party. That is mere propaganda, because, there are procedures for leaving a party and joining a new platform. As the chairman of PDP in Anambra, I have not received any resignation letter from any stakeholder or any political office holder that he or she has left PDP. So, as far as I am concerned, our members are intact.
However, we are not forcing anybody to remain in PDP. Nobody is forced to belong to any lawful organization. As I said before, we shall contest the governorship election and we shall win. What we require from any citizen is to decide which party to belong to and be firm there. PDP will no more go into elections with sell-outs. If you are no more willing to remain in PDP, you have the right to leave. All I want to assure all of us is that the genuine members remaining in PDP after the chaff have been removed, are capable of going into the election and producing next governor of Anambra State.
These individuals jumping from one party to another have been the problem of PDP in Anambra. They are good to leave. We want to know the exact number of genuine members. We need members but not such people that have continued to sell our mandated during elections.
What is the position of your party about the N9 million signage fee imposed by Anambra government on aspirants for the forthcoming governorship election?
That is part of the illegality that must not be allowed to stand. Our party is not bordered about such illegality, anyway, because it will not stand. That is one of the reckless breaches of the constitution by the present government in Anambra. Our party has written to INEC telling the body that the governor has been breaching the Electoral Act because he has been going about campaigning, pasting posters and billboards everywhere when INEC guideline has not directed so. We have written to INEC urging the organization to bring the governor to book for such electoral offenses.
Considering the many factions in Anambra State chapter of the PDP, do you think the party has the muscle to wrestle power from APGA?
I do not understand what you mean by PDP having many factions in Anambra; except you are referring to the several campaign organizations for different aspirants under PDP. PDP as a party is a creation of the constitution. The constitution is very clear on how these political parties can elect its officers. Officers of PDP in Anambra are duly elected in line with the constitution. So, PDP in Anambra has no faction.
In your meeting, it was echoed that everything that Governor Obiano has been doing since he returned from vacation are illegal, unconstitutional, and null and void. What do you mean by that?
The constitution of Nigeria provides that whenever a governor is embarking on a vocation, he writes to the State House of Assembly about such vocation and where he fails to transmit such letter, the House of Assembly shall by its resolution; mandate the Deputy Governor to act in his absence. Our contention is that Governor Willie Obiano left the shores of Anambra State for about thirty days without transmitting a letter to the Speaker which is contrary to the constitution. That same constitution says that whenever he comes back from vocation, he will also transmit a letter to the House; without which, he cannot perform the functions of the governor. That is the constitution of Nigeria. It is very clear that Obiano cannot function until such letter is transmitted to the Speaker. As I speak, the governor has not transmitted such letter to the State House of Assembly. Therefore, anything that Willie Obiano is doing in Anambra State today is illegal, unconstitutional and against the law. We have written to the House of Assembly; we have written to the police; we have written to the DSS and others. We have equally spoken to church and traditional leaders to intervene and make sure that things do not go out of hand because, any further breach of the constitution of Nigeria by Governor Willie Obiano is likely to cause breach of peace, law and order. Stitch in time, they say, saves nine.
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PDP is taking over Anambra Government House in 2017 -Prince Ken Emeakayi
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Monday, February 20, 2017
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Monday, February 20, 2017
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