• Party insists defectors will face probe
Chieftains of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Imo State, have vowed to deliver the party’s governorship candidate, Samuel Anyanwu, against all odds, in the coming November 11 governorship poll.

They made this disclosure while reacting to recent defections to the All Progressive Congress (APC) by seven former members of the party’s State Working Committee (SWC).

Speaking to journalists, in Owerri, yesterday, Imo PDP Chairman, Okigwe Zone, Chidi Dike, and his counterpart for Owerri Zone, Uche Igbokwe, insisted that the party in the state is still intact and capable of sacking the ruling APC despite the defections.

They further said that those who were leaving the party were either “bought overs” or moles implanted in the party by its enemies to destroy and sabotage its chances of winning the coming election.

They said genuine Imo PDP members across the state are committed to realising objectives of the party in the overall interest of the entire people of Imo.

Dike said: “Imo PDP members, especially those from Okigwe zone where I am the Zonal Chairman, is hundred per cent intact for our governorship candidate. Our support for him is unalloyed and unequivocal, because we believe his victory in the coming November 11 poll would guarantee our collective well being and development.

“Those who have left are people with questionable motives. We have their records and, thank God, they have shown the world who they are in character and action. So, I can tell you that their exit means nothing and will never affect the party’s resolve to reclaim the peoples mandate in the state. Imo PDP still remains a party to beat any day, any time.”

IN a related development, the 27 council chairmen and youth leaders of the party, in a separate statement, passed vote of confidence on Anyanwu, and reaffirmed their loyalty to the party.

MEANWHILE, the leadership of Imo PDP has said it is determined to get the defectors to account for their alleged financial impropriety.

Briefing journalists at the party’s Secretariat, in Owerri, yesterday, the Financial Secretary of the party, Bedewell Ejimadu, a lawyer, alleged that the defectors defrauded, embezzled and misappropriated funds, which were in their care before and during the last general elections.

He hinted that they would be made to face the law.