All is said not to be well with the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in Imo State over the ambition of politicians said to be loyal to the former governor of the state, Senator Rochas Okorocha.
Despite being in APC where he is running for Presidency, a reasonable number of Okorocha’s men are found in PDP where they are running to get the party’s nod for next year’s general election.
From records available to Trumpeta newspapers, three House of Reps members loyal to Okorocha who were in APC before now defected to PDP to pick form for a return ticket. The lawmakers are Honourables Ugonna Ozuruigbo (Isu, Nwangele, Njaba and Nkwerre Fed Constituency), Paschal Obi (Ideato Fed Constituency), and Kingsley Uju (Ohaji/Egbema, Oguta, Oru West Fed Constituency). There are others too like Paschal Onwukaike, Emeka Benjamin, Obinna Amagwula and Emeka Igwe running for the House of Assembly of their various state constituencies known as Okorocha’s men in PDP.
It was learnt that their presence is causing uneasy calm as the members who have been with the party are uncomfortable with their ambitions and mean to pick the tickets of the party at the expense of other old members.
A visit by our correspondent to the party notice unveiled complaints and threats by the old party members who swore to cause problems in the party should any of the new entrants from Okorocha’s political family be handed party’s ticket for 2023 elections.
Suspicion was rife among the old party members that the new comers from Okorocha’s APC faction are only interested in getting the ticket to win and later go back to their fold.
The fear was heightened during the week when one of the contestants gave reasons why OZB, Uju and Obi shouldn’t be allowed to win the primaries.
Another fear that came up to cause friction is the suspicion that the Okorocha political dynasty which has been pursued out of APC by governor Hope Uzodinma’s CampHope are only looking for refuge in PDP.
According to sources who told the newspaper why the new fear is spreading, if the Okorocha’s men get the party’s ticket to run for election, they may not only win but go ahead to achieve victory in the main election to now hijack affairs of the party for Okorocha.
“We have fears that the Okorocha men have come to hijack the party. If they don’t, the tendency is that they may likely return to APC if they win through PDP, hence we are kicking against allowing them get our ticket” a source told Trumpeta.
