The Anambra State Chairman of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, David Chukwudifu, has said the party cannot win a single ward in the state for its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, if the crisis between the existing party structure and the candidate’s supporters is not resolved.
Chukwudifu made the remark in an interview with Punch, in which he described the situation as ill-treatment of the state executives rather than a disagreement.
He said he and Obi had never sat down to discuss any issue.
According to him, Obi has not met any of the South-East chairmen since joining the party on May 3, 2026.
He said he stayed back in Abuja after the national convention on May 9 and made several attempts to reach the candidate by calls and WhatsApp messages, none of which was answered.
Chukwudifu alleged that another group, believed to have moved with Obi from the African Democratic Congress, sold nomination forms, screened aspirants and held a primary without involving the state executive.
He named Chris McCool Nwosu from Anambra South and a former APGA member of the State House of Assembly, Ikem Uzoezie, among those involved.
He claimed members of the Labour Party and APGA were now running the party’s affairs, while he and his officials were sidelined.
He said an ally of Obi had told him, during a speakerphone call with the candidate, that Obi would not work with the state executive and that he could go to court.
Obi, however, reportedly told a local government chairman on June 27 along the Benin-Asaba Road that he was unaware of any sidelining and directed him to Senator Tony Nwoye. Chukwudifu said Nwoye later insisted the man was not the party chairman in his local government, and that no one from his camp has heard from Obi since.
The chairman said he wrote to the party’s appeal committee on May 26 and 27, in line with the constitution, by email, text, WhatsApp and courier, with copies to the National Chairman and National Secretary. He said no reply had come.
He believed national leaders were unable to intervene effectively because Anambra is the candidate’s home state.
Chukwudifu said the crisis had badly damaged the party, which he described as largely functioning online with no effective presence on the ground.
He noted that APGA has governed the state for nearly 24 years and has a strong structure, and that the NDC must double its efforts, as it did in 2023.
He questioned the justification for removing 326 ward chairmen, 21 local government chairmen and 29 members of the state working committee, saying the party could not achieve anything in Anambra on its present path.
Obi and the NDC national leadership had not publicly responded to the claims at the time of this report.
