By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – Former governor of Imo State, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, has quit his membership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
365Daily gathered that the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives may be heading to the Labour Party.
In a letter of resignation addressed to the Imo State PDP chairman, the national chairman of the party and the chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, dated April 23, 2024, Ihedioha said his decision was due to ”a misalignment between his personal beliefs and the current trajectory of the party.”
It read, ”Since 1998, I have contributed my quota to the development and transformation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as one of the founding members. All these years, I have taken pride in the fact that the PDP is a party that will always look inward for internal reforms and provide credible leadership to the people, whether in power or outside power. I have had the benefit of serving and benefitting from the party at various levels.
”Regrettably, in recent times, the party has taken on a path that is at variance with my personal beliefs. Despite my attempts to offer counsel, the party is, sadly no longer able to carry out internal reforms, enforce its own rules or offer credible to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
”In the light of the foregoing, I am compelled to offer my resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party effective immediately. While this decision was difficult to take, I, however, believe that it is the right one. Despite this resignation, I will always be available to offer my services towards the deepening of democracy and good governance in Nigeria.”
Many of Ihedioha’s associates had, on Monday, April 22nd, quit the PDP, preparatory to his exit from the party. Some of their resignation letters have been attached below.
Sources hinted that Ihedioha had met with Mr. Peter Obi, Leader of the Labour Party, some six weeks ago to fine-tune plans for joining the party, alongside his key allies and associates.
According to the source, although the talks were smooth, Ihedioha had hedged, in the vain hope that the recently held National Executive Committee, NEC of the PDP would offer him a window of redress, following incessant complaints of the hijack of the PDP structures in Imo State by Senator Samuel Anyanwu, National Secretary of the PDP.
However, following the outcome of the PDP NEC meeting of last week, which indicated that the Anyanwu group were still very much in charge of the PDP structures in Imo State, Ihedioha and his associates knew intuitively that it was time to bid the PDP a final goodbye – and pitch their political tent elsewhere.