PDP lacks implementors of party manifesto - Egwu

By Niyi Adebimpe - 20.02.2008

FORMER governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Sam Egwu, has said that the problem with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not the party’s manifesto but people to implement it.

Dr. Egwu said this during a chat with media professionals at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos on Monday, stressing that the PDP manifesto might not need any review whatsoever. “I think if we get the right people in the right positions, people who are not just playing to the gallery, our party’s manifesto is rich enough to address the problems of this country. We may not need any change of manifesto in addressing them,” he said.

Egwu, a chairmanship aspirant for the national convention billed for Saturday, said the successful implementation of the manifesto would be largely dependent on the attitude and disposition of the governors elected on the platform of the party. Buttressing his assertion with the commitment of his government to implement the free education policy as one of the essential ingredients of the PDP manifesto, Dr. Egwu, who said he never derailed throughout his eight-year as Ebonyi State governor, stressed that he would adhere strictly to the rule of law in directing the affairs of the party if eventually elected.

He added that he would not be a lackey to any chieftain of the party including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, an Ibadan, Oyo State PDP chieftain. “There’s no way Adedibu will ask me to endorse somebody even in his own domain without following the rule of law and I will support him,” he stressed.

He added that the low level of development currently being witnessed in the South East geo-political zone of the was not unconnected with the attitude of contractors who derived pleasure in collecting contract fees without execution of the projects.