- Says, Party in Imo now Theater of Violence, Tyranny, Moral Decay
Ibe Pascal, Owerri
The former spokesperson of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in Imo State, Collins Opuruozor has opened up on why he and other six working committee members of the opposition party in the State defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC Last week.
Recall that last week Sunday, seven members of the PDP working committee members in Imo State resigned and dumped the party.
Last Monday, the seven members named G7 joined APC after meeting Governor Hope Uzodimma.
In a statement on Sunday morning, Opuruozor who opened up on his move to APC said he find it compelling to respond to certain unfounded insinuation that, perhaps, he is under pressure to rescind his resignation and return to the PDP after his defection to the APC.
He rebuked those who peddled the information of him coming back to Imo PDP.
The statement reads, “What is further baffling is the moonlight tale, that certain senior members of my former party have elected to mobilize resources to ensure my return. I totally dissociate myself from such idle talks. If there were actually persons championing such an impossible task, the task remains impossible and their motive remains known to themselves alone.
Speaking further, “To be clear, my decision to exit the PDP is unyielding and irreversible. It was reached after a dispassionate analysis of the situation in Imo PDP and the state at large. And far from being driven by immediate personal gains, the ultimate goal is to contribute to building the Imo of my dreams through direct participation in the process of governance.
“Moreover, while in office as Imo PDP Spokesman, I was confronted with the moral burden of defending a system which I knew was unjust, decayed and dysfunctional, and by far worse than the system which I ought to oppose. Pretense is not an index of integrity, but sincerity is. I had to walk away. And I am glad I did.
“Today, over ninety percent of PDP members in Imo state are getting set to sabotage their party at the polls in November. There is no leadership, and Senator Samuel Anyanwu has no capacity to provide one. There is no cohesion. There is no more political party in the real sense. And the situation cannot be remedied, because everyone knows that Senator Anyanwu is the greatest kingpin of party sabotage and brazen anti-party activities. Preliminary report of the party’s reconciliation committee has shown that the internal contradictions within the party are irreconcilable, and that the law of sowing and reaping is still effective in the affairs of men.
“What nobody has explained till this moment is the reason that ostensibly armed political thugs loyal to Senator Anyanwu would invade the Imo PDP Secretariat to unleash terror on everyone. All glasses were smashed, offices looted and security men beaten to a pulp and left in a pool of blood. PDP in Imo now poses grave existential threat to its members.
“There has been a case at the Imo State Police Command since last year over similar attack on the State Chairman of the Party, Engr. Charles Ugwuh, right in his office. The gestapo operation was organized and directly supervised by those who are today heading strategic offices in Senator Anyanwu’s campaign. Imo PDP has become a theater of violence, primitive cruelty and tyrannical display of nake power, even when their unelectable governorship candidate keeps sloganeering about “making Imo safe again”! What an irony!
“It is curious that precisely seven days after seven key members of the State Working Committee of Imo PDP resigned, Senator Anyanwu still believes that he can sustain his campaign through raw propaganda. What is even absurd is that the pretender-in-chief has now derailed completely, and now believes that sponsoring his attack dogs against some of us can help him salvage the situation. Just like a man that is jinxed, Senator Anyanwu got the governorship ticket and lost the party. He has abandoned the governorship election to pursue a few individuals. He will soon abandon everything to seek to protect his office as National Secretary. And at last, he will lose the ticket and his office before the election.
“Upon my resignation, I gave myself a 12-day moratorium to enable me visit orphanages in Enugu, reunite with distant friends in Benin City, discuss poetry with a great new friend in Owerri, debate religion and secularity with philosophers at my alma mater in Nsukka and, above all, teach my son, Freedom, how to play football. Amazing experience. All entreaties for interviews and media appearances will be granted after this period. Greater things are ahead. In one of his letters Timothy, St. Paul wrote, “The spirit He has given to us is not one that shrinks from danger.”
“When as a young progressive I joined the defunct ACN, it was everything desired until a merger with other parties yoked and Chief Rochas Okorocha together as the APC. He ruthlessly toppled the foundations of internal democracy in the nascent political party. Some of us quickly dumped the party and went on the other side to fight the Ogboko-born politician till the collapse of his empire. It is interesting that Chief Okorocha, having been defeated in the APC, has now found a ground properly watered by Senator Anyanwu in PDP to accomplish his mission of making Imo his earthly fiefdom. I am, therefore, glad to return to a reformed, refined and truly progressive APC, which is the home of my political birth. There is no going back to Egypt!
