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Striking across the dividing lines

By Lawrence Njoku, Enugu
21 July 2016   |   5:30 am
All may not be well with the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). After surviving series of crises in the build up to the 2015 general elections ...
APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun

APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun

• Enugu APC accuses PDP of creating tension in opposition camp

All may not be well with the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). After surviving series of crises in the build up to the 2015 general elections, which included nomination of candidates, allegations over disbursement of campaign funds as well as nomination for appointments into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the party is set to implode again.

This time around, the problem is centered on the removal from office of its Vice Chairman in Enugu East senatorial zone, Chief Anike Nwoga. The party had earlier suspended its Deputy Chairman, Comrade Adulphus Ude and State Woman leader, Lolo Queen Nwankwo for alleged anti-party activities.

Nwoga according to the party was removed for some activities that were not in the interest of the party.
He was alleged to have gone to the press “to castigate the State Chapter of APC and the office of the State Chairman of the party in particular, without recourse to internal means of addressing his grievances first as the party’s constitution requires;

Besides, he was accused of denigrating and embarrassing Chief Jim Nowbodo when he crossed over to APC party and in so doing scared off many other eminent politicians in the State that wanted to join APC, among other allegations.

Consequently, it was gathered that a four-man committee, made up of Anthony Nwafor (chairman), Lawrence Odoh (secretary) Joseph Nwabueze and Uzoaro Loveth was inaugurated. It found him guilty of violating the party’s constitution and on Sunday ratified his sack.

But a segment of the party has cried out and accused the state chairman of the party, Mr. Ben Nwoye of instigating the State Executive Committee (SEC) of the party to ratify the removal of Nwoga from office. Nwoga, they noted was an experienced politician and a pillar of the party in Enugu East senatorial zone, where the State chairman hails from and as such deserved some respects.

They insisted that Nwoga was being punished for the speech made at the party’s rally in Awgu, Awgu Local Government, where he asked Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu to withdraw the letter he wrote to the United Nations over his trial before an Abuja Federal High Court. Nwoga had alleged by the letter that Ekweremadu desecrated the Constitution, tarnished the image of Nigeria and by extension that of the Mr. President.

However, a statement from the Zonal Organising Secretary of party in Enugu East Senatorial District, Mr. Emma Agbina, ironically accused Nwoye of anti-party activities saying it would report Nwoye to the national leadership of the party over his recent activities.

It avowed for instance that Nwoye had earlier directed Anike to retract the statement he made late last year, when he advised Chief Jim Nwobodo to go and sort out his entanglement in the Dasukigate before joining the party, adding that the emergence State Executive Council (SEC) which he convoked on Sunday, where Nwoga’s sack was ratified was improper.

“Our understanding is that Ben Nwoye is inclined more to People’s Democratic Party (PDP) than the growth of the APC. He attacked Mrs. Kate Offor for opposing the governor for appointing Caretaker Committees to run the local government councils. He attacked Anike for advising Cheif Jim Nwobodo to cleanse himself with the Dasukigate before joining the APC he worked against. We are going to report Ben Nwoye to the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun for anti-party activities. He cannot romance the PDP and at the same time chair our great party”, the statement added.

Responding to the allegations, Nwoye said the removal of Nwoga followed the recommendations of the committee that looked into his case after the Enugu East Senatorial zone of the party had passed a vote of no confidence on him over his activities in the party.

According to him, the allegations against Nwoga had nothing to do with his speech relating to Ekweremadu’s on-going trial but bothered on his penchant for castigating the State Chapter of the party as well as the disparaging comments against former Governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo.

He stated that he had no hand in Nwoga’s ordeal, adding that the SEC received the report from the committee, headed by Tony Nwafor, which in a 3-page document, found him (Nwoga) guilty of all the allegations and consequently endorsed his suspension.

“Prior to the meeting we held on Sunday, Nwoga had since been removed several weeks ago; we already have an acting chairman for the Enugu East zone; so, it is quite strange for anybody to say that I convened a meeting on Sunday where he was impeached.”

He said there was no crisis in the party and accused the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, VON, Mr. Osita Okechukwu of hiding behind some persons to paint picture of a non-existing crisis in the party.

He alleged that the VON DG was using his pen to “terrorize the party” under his leadership insisting, “Okechukwu has always promoted virtues that cause divisions in the party. I don’t think he has work to do, otherwise, he should know that he is now an appointee of government and he should face his work to see if he will turn things around for the Voice of Nigeria”.

But, in a swift reaction, Okechukwu called on the party chairman to face the various allegations hanging on his neck rather than divert attention.

“Our dear Chairman, Barrister Ben Nwoye should better clear his name from serial anti-party activities imbroglio, instead of chasing shadows. He should give me a break. Otherwise, am I the one who diverted the seed registration money given to him? Instead of accounting for the money, he suspended our Deputy Chairman, Comrade Adolphus Ude and our Women Leader, Lolo Queen Nwankwo who had the guts to query the misappropriation.

“Secondly, instead of defending our great party, he upbraided Mrs. Kate Offor, our Publicity Secretary, when she issued statements condemning the setting up of Caretaker Committee by the governor of Enugu State to run local government councils. Am I the one who told Nwoye to subvert our great party and support the subversion of our Constitution?

“To be candid, am at a loss where the innocent statement Chief Anike Nwoga made at Awgu rally, by telling Senator Ike Ekweremadu to retract his statement, offends the tenets or Constitution of our great party?”

Nwoga, a former youth leader of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in his reaction, dismissed allegations of anti-party activities leveled against him, claiming that he was being victimized for not supporting the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state like Nwoye and his cohorts.

He vowed to resist any form of intimidation to make him loose his voice in the party, stressing that nothing has happened to remove him from office.

Nwoye, it would be recalled, has had several face-offs with the party’s state Publicity Secretary, Mrs. Kate Offor for holding different views, especially on matters of governance in the state.

For instance, earlier this year, Offor had criticized Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration for replacing the 17 Local Government Chairmen in the state with Heads of Personnel Management (HPM), at the end of their tenure in office, pending when the list of Caretaker Committees members for the LGAs would be made public.

Mrs. Offor in her press statement had accused the governor of violating the constitution by ordering the Heads of Personnel Management in each of the 17 LGAs, to take over the administration of the councils pending the appointment of caretaker committees.

But, Nwoye disowned her publicly saying that the statement did not emanate from the authentic leadership of the party in the state and that he was embarrassed to read such statement.

“Once again, the APC in Enugu state wants to make it categorically clear that Mrs. Kate Offor, does not have its authority or approval to issue any press statement on behalf of the party. The Publicity Secretary has not been attending our state Exco meetings; she has been operating on her own. Therefore, any statement authored by her, should be disregarded by the public, because it has no link with our party,” he told journalists.

The position of Nwoye notwithstanding, two members of the party are still in court challenging the decision of the state government to run the affairs of the councils with Caretaker committee chairmen, indicating that all may not be well with APC in Enugu.

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