Enugu PDP in a Quandary: The Gburugburu’s Connection

Enugu PDP in a Quandary: The Gburugburu’s Connection

 

By Chijioke Nnamani

Arising from the recent Federal High Court pronouncement barring INEC from honouring any correspondence from the Peoples Democratic Party without the signature of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary, tension has taken over the structure of the party all over the federation.

In Enugu state, the story is even more scorching as notable and critical stakeholders stayed away from the recently organized South East Zonal Congress held at Ọkpara Square, Enugu. Although, the Congress held, it had no trappings of a zonal Congress in terms of attendance. Apart from the presence of the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, and former of Ebonyi state, Sam Egwu, almost all others who were former governors on the platform of the party in the south East shunned the Congress.

 

Speaking to The Starlite reporter, a member of the state working committee in Enugu state who was at the venue of the congress and who also pleaded anonymity, he said he was worried about the future of PDP both at the National and state levels.

 

He said: "At the National level, we can see the hands of a few aggrieved persons holding PDP to ransom. We also have a version of these hands down here in Enugu State. The shadows of the G-5 governors have been looming large on the fate of the party both at Abuja and Enugu.

"When I didn't see the former governors of Enugu and Abịa at the zonal congress, I smelt a rat. The import of the situation is that Gburugburu and Gov. Peter Mbah are not on the same page as far as  PDP is concerned in Enugu. With the latest news from a Federal High Court barring INEC from receiving any correspondence without Sen. Sam Anyanwu's signature, it then means that what we did at Ọkpara Square few days ago was a charade. If a party goes for an election with candidates that emerged through illegal procedures, the chances of losing the seats at the courts are very high.

"When we did our Wards and Local Government congresses, I recall that Gburugburu was not consulted to make any input in who becomes what. In fact, he was so denigrated by those in government house such that he was not even carried along in determining who emerged his ward chairman in the party. During the local government election in Enugu state, I don't think he was even allowed to make any input in his local government.

"Now, with what is going on, it is not out of place to say that Gburugburu is critical in the affairs of PDP in Enugu State. Not minding the controversy over the position of the National Secretary of the party, Sen. Sam Anyanwu is known to be a very good friend of Gburugburu and if given the opportunity, he will take the decision that favours Sen. Anyanwu rather than S. K . Ude-Okoye.

The Starlite Newspapers gathered that since after the general election in Enugu state, the insinuations in government House Enugu were that Gburugburu was responsible for the massive loss the party recorded in that election and secondly, that he made Barr. Peter Mbah  spend through his nose during the race to the Lion Building.

 

The Starlite gathered that few months after the election, a political Aide to Governor Peter Mbah called for a meeting of Local Government chairmen and the zonal coordinators of the Ward chairmen of the party to discuss the way forward for PDP and all the story from the aide was how Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi killed and buried PDP in Enugu. With such stories coming from the aide to the governor, the assumption was that there was no love lost in the relationship between the new government and the immediate past governor.

As the crisis continues to linger in Enugu, an unconfirmed but reliable source told The Starlite that Gov. Mbah has allegedly formulated three available options to rely on if PDP goes under.

 

Options One: The governor and his disciples have looked at the options of joining the All Progressives Congress (APC). The out come of that option led to the plot to drag President Bola Tinubu to nichodemously seal the deal  after what appeared like an earlier ground breaking visit by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima to Enugu. The President who eventually arrived Enugu at a very huge cost (in Dollars) and at the expense of the Lion Building, sensed that his party men in the state and the South East were not comfortable with the whole arrangement decided to tread with caution in his pronouncements. It was also rumoured that to drag the president down to Enugu, a close family member to the Tinubus was alleged to have pocketed about $1m from the coffers of the state.

 

It was gathered that the security reports on the projects which were said to have been done were not tilting towards the governor and that was why he almost performed all his duties/commissioning virtually.

Apart from the above, The Starlite gathered that there was a high wire conspiracy from the South East leaders of the APC to block any attempt in bringing Gov. Mbah into their fold. Although, there were no concrete reason for the blockade, a dependable source said the APC already has a candidate for the Enugu Guber come 2027 in the person of the Hon. Minister for Science and Innovation, Mr. Godfrey Nnaji popularly known as Nwakaibie - a candidate said to be in the heart of Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State.

            The Starlite gathered that for the APC in the South East to show resentment with the president’s coming to Enugu, most of the party officials in all the wards and zones of the state were never mobilized to be part of the Presidential visit. Secondly, within the period of the visit,  there were several Newspaper advertorials pointing to Mr. President that the purported projects said to have been done by Gov. Mbah were all fake window dressing meant to deceive him into believing that Enugu was really working.

During the Vice President’s visit to Enugu, the State Chairman of APC, Chief Ugo Agballa managed to be at the airport to receive him and shortly after the brief airport reception, he disengaged from all other programmes lined up for the day. Although Minister Nnaji was present throughout the event he didn’t appear too comfortable with whole arrangements and maintained absolute silence all through.

 

Option Two: The Starlite was also told that Gov. Mbah who was alleged to be opposed to any structure related to Gburugburu was looking at the option of aligning with a faction of the PDP which is anti Sen. Anyanwu and the Damagum led executive to create a merger that will involve the members of Labour Party/Obidient Movement as well as a faction of NNPP. This unconfirmed idea was hyped by social media rats who claimed last week that the governor had called for a comprehensive list of all Labour Party ward executives to be in payroll for monthly stipends.

When this merger comes into effect, the expectation is that it will create a hurricane capable of sweeping the APC away in 2027 from Aso Rock. As at the time of filing this report, it was gathered that there was pressure from the Northern States on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to jettison his ambition in 2027 and focus more on playing the role of a statesman wherein he will support Mr. Peter Obi in 2027.

 

Option Three: The third option said to be available for the governor in a run up to 2027 was to look for a very virgin platform upon which he can make himself available to contest his second term. The party, according to sources is the Action Peoples Party (APP). As at the last quarter of 2024, The Starlite gathered that the governor had upped the ante by allegedly approaching a member of the House of Representatives Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere  to allow him form the structure of APP in Enugu State. According to sources, the trip yeilded some degrees of success which will likely lead to the establishment of APP in Enugu state. Although the idea is said to be in the incubator, the full machinery of the party will be activated for electoral victory when it becomes obviously certain that the ailing PDP is dead. Whether the old members of the PDP would be enthusiastic in joining the new party when it comes on stream remains in the womb of time.

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