Senator Uba, others blame Ngige
From Pascal Nwigwe, Abuja
MEMBERS of the Anambra State Caucus at the National Assembly have said that Governor Chris Ngige should be held responsible for the violence which erupted in Awka.
Addressing journalists at the National Assembly Complex, the leader of the caucus, Senator Ugochukwu Uba, said that the mayhem would have been averted if Ngige had exercised caution.
Uba, who spoke on behalf of 10 out of the 14 federal lawmakers from Anambra, traced the root of the mayhem to the planned council polls.
The lawmaker opined that the disaster was avoidable and could have been averted if Ngige had been disciplined enough to accept decisions reached by the party at the state and national levels with his full participation and input.
"This is an issue of discipline. As a member of an organisation, one is bound to abide by the rules and collective decisions taken by the organisation. This is an attempt to challenge the party and deny people their rights," Uba said.
Also speaking, the state PDP chairman, Mr. Uchenna Emodi, claimed that while the party elected 16 candidates for the council polls since 2002, Ngige produced his own list.
He further explained that the national executive of the party had accommodated the governor's list with five slots, to which he agreed initially but raised objections later.
Flanked by members of the House of Representatives Nedu Ugochukwu, Jerry Sonny Ugochukwu, Ralph Okeke and Harry Oranezi, the party chief alleged that the governor sent a vigilante group to disrupt a rally organised by the PDP to flag off its council polls campaigns.
"He doesn't want the elections to hold because in the process he would have lost any hold he has on the party and his free access to council funds," said Emodi, adding that the mayhem of Wednesday was an attempt to get the elections postponed.
Asked to prescribe a recipe for peace in the state, the caucus said that the solution was in conducting free and fair elections in the state with candidates selected by the party and certified by the PDP leadership as enshrined in its constitution.
