A member of the House of Representatives, representing Ideato North/South Federal Constituency of Imo State, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, has emerged the leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State.
The development followed the appointment of Ugochinyere, who is the highest elected office-holder on the PDP platform in Imo State, by 27 PDP chairmen chairmen in 27 local government areas of the State at the weekend.
The leaders, in a statement signed on their behalf by Coordinating Chairman of the 27 Imo PDP LGA Chairmen Forum, urged stakeholders in the state to rally round the vibrant lawmaker in the battle of rescuing the umbrella party from imminent collapse both at the state and national levels.
The PDP leaders, who passed vote of confidence on Ugochinyere, also insisted that the party’s acting national chairman, Umar Damagun, and national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, should be immediately removed to pave way for reinvigoration of the main opposition party.
They said: “We the leaders of PDP in Imo state after wide consultations and deep reflection on the state of our party in the state and the country, resolved to appoint the member representing Ideato North/South Federal Constituency of Imo State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Barr Ikenga Ugochinyere as our leader.
“This is based on his antecedents, sterling leadership qualities and commitment to the protection and promotion of the ethos of our party over the years. Judging from his ingenuity, we are confident in his ability to be the rallying point of PDP in Imo state for the party to rebound ahead of future polls.
“We therefore urged stakeholders in the party to rally round him and give him all the support needed to succeed in the task of rebuilding our party into a virile force to be reconked with not just for electoral purposes but in promotion of democratic ideals which our party stands espouses.
“While passing a vote of confidence on Hon. Barr Ikenga Ugochinyere as our leader, we insist that the acting national chairman of PDP, Umar Damagun and national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu should be removed without further delay hence their continuous stay in office even illegally is doing more harm than good to our party as we prepared to take over government in 2027.”
