Former Imo State governor, Emeka Ihedioha, Friday said the exodus of members from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State that followed his departure from the party was a vote of confidence in his leadership.
Ihedioha, during an interview session on AriseTV, disclosed that he left the PDP because of his large followers’ desire for him to lead change and rebuild Imo State.
He added that Nigerians no longer perceive the PDP as a party that could take over government at the national or state levels, stressing that the operators of the party are recalcitrant and averse to reasoning with opinions that will put the party back on track.
Speaking on his exit from the PDP, he said, “It was bound to happen. So far, the tendencies operating in the party have remained there, for quite some time, the warning shots were very clear, Just before the election, yes, there were issues, but it makes sense that we get into the election convinced to regain power at the federal level and in a number of states. But of course, several things happened, and after the election, the issues came to the fore.
“We called for the need to address those issues, but rather than address those issues and a barrage of demand, what we saw was a further drift to the desires of the people, which is very inconsistent with the mission and vision of the founding fathers of our party, which I would say, I had the privilege of being a founding member right back in 1998, then in my capacity as the director of the publicity of the PDP.
“To see your party grow and now get to this descent, and continue on that part of an undesirable descent might derail you as a person, as well as your intention and, of course, your large followership. So I acted essentially based on the desires of my large followership and my support base back at home and nationally, who felt the party had lost its bearing and there was a need for us to forge ahead.
“PDP had stopped presenting itself as a party that could eventually form government by their recent actions. It was obvious, that Nigerians no longer perceived them as a party that could take over government at the national or state levels, politics is perception. In the last governorship election in the state, which was our most dismal, the PDP did not win one single LGA in Imo State; when I ran for office in 2019, we didn’t have one single member in the House of Assembly, but I led the party to victory; we won thirteen seats in the assembly… and won the governorship election with a close to 100,000 votes difference with the major opponent. In 2023, we saw abysmal performance, and nothing was being done to remedy the situation of the party.”
He argued that the operators of the party are recalcitrant and averse to reasoning with opinions that will put the party back on track.
He furthered, “After I resigned, there was a spontaneous deluge of people who are successful in different ways, who are political leaders across 305 political wards. 4800 chapters in the political party resigned en masse, I couldn’t have paid for that; it was a vote of confidence in me and our desire to get democracy to work and get a platform that can bring like-minded people together to pursue progress.”
He added that those who left the party included a former governor, deputy governors, former ministers, members of the House of Reps, senatorial candidates in the last election, a member of PDP BoT, and several others who are politically active.
