One of the top contenders in Enugu State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in Enugu State, Senator Ayogu, is said to be full of confident he will emerge as the party’s flag bearer in the state despite running against the momentum.
Reports from his camp as at last night indicate that he is very hopeful of mustering the number of delegates to overcome Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who has the full weight of the state governor Sullivan Chime behind him.
According to sources, the senator as at last night was brimming with confidence as he was said to have mustered more than 50 per cent of the delegates that would vote in today’s primary election.
Many had thought that with the resolution of the conflict of interests between Governor Chime and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who was seen as an ally of Senator Eze, that all wind had been taken out his sail, but the rank Senator it was learnt vowed to fight on till the end.
Trouble started for the Ugwuanyi camp fully backed by the governor when the state chairman of the party Vita Aba resigned his position suspicious circumstances. This opened the way to Ekweremadu and Eze and some other party big wigs who had no footprint in the state party structure to capitalise on the lacuna to gain some advantage.
What resulted from this development was the boycott of November 1, ward congresses of the party by the mainstream leadership of the party spearheaded by Governor Chime. The Ekweremadu/ Eze camps went ahead coast home unchallenged, and the hope that the national leadership of the party would cancel the alleged manipulated congresses has not been fulfilled.That means effectively that the Chime/ Uguwuanyi group, despite being the popular group on ground had effectively no delegate.
It was on this lacuna that the Ekweremadu relied to wrench concession from Chime on the Enugu West senatorial ticket and it is the same platform that Senator Eze is said to be building up delegates that would give him the ticket.
Sources in Eze’s camp said that as at Sunday night he had claimed to have built up more than enough delegates that would see him emerge winner of the ticket.
The sources said that Eze who had weathered many political storms in the past had reached to delegates from Enugu East Senatorial Zone especially those led by Nweke Jr to add up to the number that he had in Enugu North to bolster his delegate count.
Our correspondent learnt that the senator was camping his delegates in an undisclosed place from where they would go to the venue of the congress to elect him flag bearer.
