The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-east geopolitical zone yesterday dispelled insinuations in some quarters that former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, has returned to the party.

The party in a statement by its National Vice-Chairman, South-east zone, Col Austin Akobundu (rtd), made available to journalists in Enugu, said the former governor had not returned to PDP, dismissing the rumour as the figment of the imagination of the peddlers.
Akobundu said reports reaching him from both Bende Local Government Area and Abia State chapters of the party (Kalu’s local government area and home state respectively) indicate that the former governor is not a member of the ruling party.

“He is neither registered in his Igbere ward nor recognised as having done so in Bende, let alone being accepted at the state level of the party as a returnee.

He stressed therefore that the zonal level of the party recognises and accepts entrants or returnees who have been duly registered and certified as having fulfilled all the requirements of entry or re-entry into the party as laid down in the party constitution and wondered how some group, particularly politicians from the opposing camp should insinuate that Kalu is now a member of PDP, when in actual fact he is not.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Kalu is not a member of PDP. For the fact that he visited some friends at the national secretariat of PDP in Abuja and later took photograph with some unsuspecting national officers and former political office holders as published in two national dailies does not make him a member of the PDP.

“The party has constitution, guidelines and laid down rules by which it conducts its affairs including how returnees should be reunited.
“Kalu, we should recall, was a governor at a time when our dear National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Ma’azu was holding sway in Bauchi State. That he had gone to our national headquarters to felicitate with his erstwhile colleague probably in company of others does not automatically qualify him as a member of the PDP.”

According to him, “We therefore urge the public, particularly the members of our party to remain calm, vigilant and beware of the activity of imposter(s) who might want to hoodwink them into having the wrong perception of their return of people whose sole ambition is to derail our hard won cohesion and confidence by the electorate in the South-east and Abia State in particular.”

THISDAY checks revealed that the former governor had left the PDP in the wake of his face-off with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and formed the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA).
SOURCE: http://nigerians4change.com/2014/09/south-east-pdp-denies-kalus-return-to-party/