The Imo State Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Marshal Okaforanyanwu, has resigned his position as the chairman of the party.
This is coming barely 4 months to the November 11th Governorship election in the state.
Briefing newsmen in Owerri on Thursday, Okaforanyanwu said that he has also resigned as a member of the party, stating that the reasons behind his decision was because of certain abnormalities happening in the party orchestrated by the national leadership.
He said that he resigned his position alongside the entire state executive members and State Working Committee (SWC).
He said: “I cannot continue to associate myself with failures because I am not a failure.”
Okaforanyanwu recalled that the problem started with the conduct of the party Governorship primary election held on the 17th April, 2023 where one Bright Obinna Ekwebelem emerged as a placeholder on a resolution that the party would continue to shop for a candidate that would fly the party flag.
He said: “it was agreed that once the party gets a candidate, Ekwebelem will be substituted. Meanwhile his resignation has been extracted with documents”.
He said that based on that resolution, the party in its determination to shop for a credible candidate held another meeting that brought the choice of the former speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Kelechi Nwagwu.
Okaforanyanwu, who was the pioneer state chairman of APC, said that to his greatest shock, the national chairman and other leaders refused Kelechi Nwagwu at the point of his presentation with their secret plans to force Ekwebelem on the members of the party as the candidate in the state as against the earlier agreement and resolution of the SWC.
He said: “the idea of the national leadership to force down on the throat of members a trader who has no credibility and someone who does not know his left and right in politics, is highly condemned and I cannot tolerate that”
Okaforanyanwu, flanked by the former state secretary of party, Pastor Ayozie Ogbonna, said that before taking his decision, he had consulted with the entire State Exco and all of them are in tandem with him.
He said: “I decided to extricate myself from the party to find a better political leaning in the state”
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