PDP chieftain gives recipe for democratic transformation of Nigeria

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Obiora Okonkwo, has said that the de-emphasising of money politics is key to the survival of democracy and transformation of Nigeria.

Okonkwo, who is chairman of the Dome Entertainment Centre, Abuja, and a businessman, as well as, a Political Scientist, stated this when he donated 340 customised registers of PDP to the party on Friday, in Awka. The register would be distributed to chairmen of PDP in the 326 political wards across Anambra State for registration of members.

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He said there was the need for Nigerians to understand that mortgaging their conscience or vote during elections was one of the major reasons it had become difficult to hold elected officials accountable for actions that were marring the political process. “It is wrong for party men and women to collect money and back an aspirant who does not know the party executives at the ward, local and state levels, just because he or she needs the platform to achieve their goals.
 “If Nigerians continue to approach its democracy from a point of buying and selling, development of the country and its democracy will continue to lip-frog’’, he said.

 Okonkwo said he procured the 340 registers to be used in all the wards to ensure that the party stopped using notebooks as registers, which he noted had before now resulted in the manipulation of the members’ registers by some individuals. He listed other things he has done to strengthen the party, and noted that if other bigwigs in Anambra could work as a family, PDP would return to power in the state by March 2022. 
Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu, the State chairman of PDP in Anambra State, who officially received the registers on behalf of the party, said he was humbled by the huge support the party was getting from Okonkwo. “After a meeting we attended at PDP National Secretariat Abuja, the national leaders told us that customised registers of our party could be procured at the cost of N10, 000 per one.
 “At a stakeholders meeting in Awka, I made an open appeal for people to support Anambra PDP to acquire the registers, to my surprise, one day a vehicle sent by Okonkwo landed at our secretariat and brought these very important documents,’’ he said. 
Nwobu, however, warned the chairmen present during the handover to handle the registers with care, noting that anyone who mutilated or did anything fraudulent with the document would be handed over to the law by the party for prosecution.