Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu has lauded the return of former governor Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani’s return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding every player in Enugu politics today is a product of Nnamani.
Ekweremadu who fielded questions from newsmen at the Akanu Ibiam International airport weekend described the development as a positive one for PDP in Enugu state, saying that it will add value to the party in the State.
“Well I read about it, that he went to the ward and declared his interest to return and he was fully accepted. You recall that in the last election, PDP gave most of the votes to the presidential candidate of PDP, Goodluck Jonathan. And that time Senator Nnamani was in PDC, now that he is with us in PDP, it is expected that we are going to get more votes this time around.
“Majority of the votes will now go to Mr. President and of course to PDP. So for us in the PDP, it’s a welcome development. He has been a founding father of PDP in Enugu state; he played a major role in stabilizing PDP in bringing about the position which most of us occupy today <calendar:T5:today> .
“So I think that we should also be excited that he is coming back to PDP and we should be able to encourage him. It is another opportunity for me to ask those who are yet to come back to do so, so that PDP should be able to have a complete hold of Enugu state.
“Enugu has actually been a PDP state, so because some of them left we suffered little set back in terms of the number of PDP in the state, but right now with his coming back and expected come back of others like him, I’m sure that we will be fully back to the dominance of PDP in Enugu state. So it’s a welcome development and I commend him for taking that step,” he said.
On media report that Nnamani’s bid to return to the part was rejected, Ekweremadu said: “This is democracy; we have freedom of association in Nigeria, so it’s not as simple as that, so nobody is going to stop anybody from being in any political party. Things don’t work that way; we don’t run a secret society, it’s not a cult, PDP is a big party, and is open to everybody so I’m surprised if anybody is opposing his coming back.
“He will actually add value and the more the merrier in this business. So I think we should have an open mind in all this. To think about it, the major political actors in Enugu state are all products of Senator Chimaroke Nnamani and we should be grateful to him.
“The worse thing that will happen to anybody is the sin of ingratitude; if you are ungrateful to anybody you can never make any progress. The Bible is clear on that. So if you pay good with evil, evil will never depart from your house. So we expect that any person who has benefited from Chimaroke should be happy with him, the least you can do is to wish him well.
On President Jonathan’s visit to flag off the Second Niger Bridge project, the deputy Senate President said; “I think it’s a major development; it’s a very positive development. It’s good not just for the people of the South-East, but also for the South-South, for the South-West, for the North and within the sub-region of West Africa, because it is not bridge that is being used only by the people of South-East, people from Bene Republic, from Togo, from Ghana; they come to Onitsha market”.
