Kenneth Ofoma, Abakaliki

There has been a long political tussle involving Barrister Okeagu Ogada and Joseph Obinna Ogba, over the chairmanship of the party a situation that has led to a lot of confusion in the state.

A source close to the state chapter of the party revealed that matters came to a head during the last National Executive Committee and Caucus meetings of the party in Abuja when the two factional chairmen showed up as the Ebonyi state PDP Chairman before security men asked them to produce their invitation letter for the meeting.

"Though Okeagu Ogada was eventually admitted into the venues of the meetings, the NWC resolved to dissolve the state Executive Committee of the party in Ebonyi and set up a five-man care taker committee. The immediate past Governor of the state and the three senators from the state are expected to nominate one candidate each as members of the committee while the incumbent state Governor as the leader of the party would nominate the acting Chairman," the source added saying that the care taker committee would oversee the holding of primary election for the forthcoming council polls.

It will be recalled that the immediate past governor Dr Sam Egwu had during the build up the May general elections promised that any guber aspirant who agreed to step down for Chief Elechi would be allowed to go back to the person’s former position in addition to being refunded all campaign expenses as compensation.

Consequently Ogba who resigned his position as state chairman of the party before joining the guber race, stepped down and wanted to resume his position which had already been taken by Ogada and the latter refused to step aside insisting that Egwu’s promise applied to those occupying appointive and not elective position like the chairmanship of the party.

On the decision of the NWC dissolve the state exco, the source stated that already Governor Elechi may have nominated Engineer Dave Umahi, a contractor from Ebonyi south senatorial district to head the care taker committee adding that the measure was to arrest further show of shame between Ogada and Ogba over the chairmanship seat.

Fielding questions from newsmen about his preparedness to shoulder the responsibility if called upon, Umahi, whose petrol filling station was burnt during the last general elections, said the follower-ship of the party in the state was never divided.

While denying any privy knowledge of the NWC decisions, Umahi, however asserted that as a loyal party man, there is no assignment from the party leadership that he could not carry out diligently adding that during the elections all the members worked collectively for the successful emergence of the party’s candidates at the polls.