Frontline politician and member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has joined some stakeholdersof the party in Owerri Senatorial Zone in Imo State to condemn the press statement credited to state secretary of the party, Sir George Eguh, which abolished zoning for elective positions in the state.
The State Working Committee of the PDP, in a statement signed by Eguh last Friday, urged anyone wishing to contest for any position in the state to feel free to do so as the party had not zoned any position to any specific area.
The statement added that the PDP “through its primaries will select the best candidates for all positions and will not impose any candidate(s) on the people in line with the constitution of the party and the reformation commitment of our new National Chairman”.
The statement also advised aspirants to proceed to market themselves to the party delegates and members whose duty it is to determine those to fly the flag of the party.
But speaking with journalists in Owerri, the state capital,Chief Iwuanyanwu accused Eguh of propagating his personal opinion.
He said the State Working Committee had never discussed that the party had not zoned any position including governorship to any area.
In his words, “anybody saying that there is no zoning in Imo PDP is not part of the system because even in our constitution in Nigeria it is enshrined through federal character. In every state where you have three zones and one zone continues to dominate, there is bound to be problem. This is what we don’t want to happen here by ensuring there is equity in the distribution of positions”.
He maintained that all leaders at federal and state levels know that zoning is correct, explaining that the PDP at all levels insisted on zoning as a means of ensuring unity and peace among the people.
“So Eguh is not correct. It is his personal opinion. I should tell you the position of the party because I’m a member of the board of trustees. The PDP as a party supports and encourages zoning in every state. It makes electoral process easier. Since this democratic dispensation in 1999, Owerri is the only zone that has not tasted power in Imo and that is enough to course any kind of agitation.”
