Anyim to Iyorchia Ayu: “It is disheartening that by 6pm today, the Ebonyi State Delegates List has changed from what was officially published.”
By Emma Ogbuehi
The presidential primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled to hold this weekend (May 28 and 29) may have already run into rough weather even before the first ballot is cast due to the shenanigans of the party officials.
Already, one of the frontline aspirants from the Southeast, Mr. Peter Obi, has quit the party to pursue his presidential ambition on the platform of the Labour Party.
Obi said he left the main opposition party because of “recent developments” within the party which have made it practically impossible for him to continue participating and making constructive contributions.
But rather than mending its ways, the party seems to be doubling down on the road to perdition.
This time, in what looks like a deliberate gambit by the PDP leadership and other vested interests to scheme out another frontline presidential aspirant from the Southeast, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, the party is doctoring the delegates list to be used in Saturday’s primaries.
This political sleight of the hand exhibited by the PDP leadership has forced the former Senate President to write two open letters within ten hours to the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prof Iyorchia Ayu, complaining about the manipulation of the delegates list for Ebonyi State.
READ ALSO: Anyim raises alarm over missing Ebonyi PDP delegates list
The second letter which came less than ten hours after the first, complained that the authentic list of delegates from the state had been changed and replaced with people who were not elected as delegates.
In the first letter, the former President of the Senate had complained that Ebonyi delegates’ names were completely missing from the PDP’s national delegates list.
The second letter was also copied to Sen. David Mark, Chairman of the 2022 PDP Special Convention.
Titled: “Re: Open Letter on the Absence of Ebonyi State Delegates List”, the letter reads, “The Chairman may refer to my earlier letter of today the 27th day of May 2022 and captioned as above.
“I am to observe that shortly after my letter, I noticed in an official publication by the party, list of Ebonyi State Delegates alongside other states.
“It is disheartening that by 6pm today, the Ebonyi State Delegates List has changed from what was officially published.
“There is no doubt that the aim of this gamble with Ebonyi State Delegates List is to disenfranchise duly elected delegates from Ebonyi State from participating in the presidential primary election.
“Let it be on record that anybody not on the list originally published by the party, is certainly not a delegate from Ebonyi State”, Anyim cautioned.
A source in the Anyim “Greater Nigeria” campaign organization”, who spoke with TheNiche on Friday evening said the PDP was playing a dangerous game with the manipulation.
“It is a gambit that will backfire badly. We are waiting, watching and weighing our options. And we do have options.”
