How Governor Orji Of Abia Of Schemed Party Primaries To Impose His Son and Self As PDP Candidates -PDP Group

By
Saharareporters

Some members of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) in Abia State have
accused Governor Theodore Orji of
gaming the Peoples Democratic Party primary
process in order to impose himself and associates as
party candidates. The irate party members said
Mr. Orji perfected a game to ensure that his own
son emerges as his successor after he leaves the seat
of governor.

“Chief Theodore Orji knows he is very unpopular
in the state. Therefore he is conducted party
primaries in order for handpicked candidates for [a]
majority positions in the state,” said one of the senior
party members opposed to the governor’s plan.
Our source and three other aggrieved party
members said Governor Orji had manipulated the
process for choosing party delegates. “Instead of
allowing for elections, he merely wrote the names of
people he wants as delegates so that they
[handpicked delegates] would agree to his choices of
candidates for the 2015 general elections,” another
source alleged.
“There is no record of any election of delegates.
The election of delegates was slated for 1st of
November in the state, but it did not hold,” one
party member said.
“Each local government area is supposed to have
three delegates. To our shock, the names of the
three delegates from each LGA were announced,
but we are aware no elections held,” a spokesman
for the protesting group said.
Some of the disaffected members said they had
written a protest letter to the national leadership of
the PDP in Abuja, to no avail. “We complained
and protested over the absence of any election that
produced the delegates, but that the party has so far
ignored us,” said one member.
In addition to the failure to elect delegates, the
PDP members also said that the election of
candidates to represent the party in various
electoral contests for the 2015 elections also did not
hold. “The delegates were supposed to vote in the
primaries to determine the candidates for the State
House of Assembly, Federal House of
Representatives, Senate, and governorship, but
again elections were held according to Governor
orji’s terms,” the group insisted.
They said that even the handpicked delegates had
expected to vote on November 29th for party
candidates, but they were disappointed as no
election held.
“They stayed in the queue till evening. They left
when it became clear that no elections would hold,”
one source said.
Despite the absence of elections, Mr. Orji used
state-sponsored media to claim that candidates had
been successfully elected by the Abia chapter of the
PDP for all the elections in 2015.
“I am very happy with the party delegates for
conducting themselves peacefully and casting their
votes in an atmosphere that could be described as
free and fair,” Governor Orji was quoted as
saying.
The aggrieved party members argued that the state
governor should have apologized for undermining
the primary process instead of gloating that the
process had worked credibly. “We expected an
apology, and announcement of a new date for the
election to hold properly. Instead, the Abia State
PDP went ahead with the governor’s game,
ignoring our complaints,” a member of the group
said.
“Olisa Metuh knows about this fraud, but he is
quiet because the arrangement is to keep loyalists in
Abia to help President Jonathan secure the state
for the presidential election,” one aggrieved party
member said.
The most serious allegation by the PDP group is
that Mr. Orji had come up with a plan to impose
his son, Chinedu Orji, as successor. “He [Theodore
Orji] is using a proxy known as Okezie Ikpeazu.
One plan is to make Okezie Ikpeazu the
governorship candidate for the party in 2015 while
Theodore Orji's son is supposed to be the Speaker
of the State House of Assembly. With this
arrangement, Mr. Orji aims to continue using
Ikpeazu to siphon state's fund,” said the group’s
spokesman. He added that the governor’s
alternative plan was to arrange for the impeachment
of Mr. Ikpeazu and the deputy governor using
candidates he plans to plant in the state assembly.
“He wants his son to take over as governor,
because it is a stipulation of the constitution that the
speaker will take over if the governor and his
deputy are impeached,” the group stated.
The party members said the ties between the
governor and Mr. Ikpeazu were cemented after
Mr. Orji appointed Mr. Ikpeazu to oversee
SURE P funds meant for cleaning Abia State.
“Ikpeazu always took SURE P money and
handed it to the governor,” one of the members said.
Governor Orji's son, Chinedu, had earlier been
disqualified from contesting due to his membership of
a dreaded cult gang that allegedly attacked
perceived enemies of his father. However he was
mysteriously "cleared" to contest despite his
indictment for criminal cultism.

The primary election for the governorship candidate
in Abia State is scheduled for (today)Monday
December 8th, but party members said they were
afraid it would not hold. Mr. Orji has another
plan, should elections proceed, the plot is to use
different venues for accreditation and voting or at
best quarantine all the delegates who are already
lodged in hotels in Aba with their phones taken
away from them until his bidding is done.
They accused Mr. Orji of keeping the list of the
ostensible delegates who are to elect the party’s
governorship candidate away from the public. They
added that Governor Orji and his son, Chinedu,
had bribed all local reporters to keep them from
reporting on the undemocratic practices and the
shady primaries.

However, SaharaReporters obtained the list,
which is now reproduced below: