Members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Imo State on Saturday were allegedly involved in a messy fight at the party’s secretariat in Owerri, the state capital, after a faction of the party led by Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie, reportedly disrupted a meeting of the Caretaker Committee led by Vitalis Okafor.
It would be recalled that Okafor’s Caretaker Committee was inaugurated on January 29, 2016 to pilot the affairs of the party for three months.
However, he had hardly settled down for business with his members when the Nnamdi Anyaehie-led faction stormed the secretariat and attempted to chase everybody away, The Punch reports.
Scores reportedly sustained injuries after which armed policemen barricaded the premises and dispersed members of the clashing factions.
Anyaehie and his supporters were said to have driven out of the premises in a long convoy.
Okafor, speaking with journalists, reportedly said Anyaehie was responsible for the confusion within the party.
He accused him of scheming to perpetuate himself in office, adding that the meeting was convened to brief members of the party on the latest development in the legal battle between his committee and the Anyaehie faction.
Okafor said Anyaehie’s tenure had since expired as pronounced by the Party’s National Executive Council, which subsequently installed his caretaker committee to preside over the affairs of the party for three months.
He advised members of the party to remain calm and law abiding and to go to their various LGAs and spread the news that the Anyaehie-led executive had been rejected, stating that, “It is regrettable that somebody, who parades himself as a party Chairman could engage thugs to disrupt a meeting authorised by the National Publicity Secretary of our party, Chief Oliseh Metu.’’
According to him, “The people of the state and the PDP have rejected them because they have failed; yet, they do not want to read the writing on the wall.”
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