Enugu APC moves to avert crisis ahead of congress

• Imo has exceeded party membership target, says chieftain

The Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned members to beware of tendencies that could create divisions in its fold as it prepares for its state congress.

Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party, Dr. Ben Nwoye, gave the warning while reacting to a purported retreat in Unadu, Igboeze South Local Council chaired by former Enugu Speaker, Eugene Odoh, that conducted and elected a former Commissioner of Health in the state, Dr. Simeon Ideka, as Zonal Vice Chairman of the party for Enugu North.

Dismissing the development as “huge joke,” Nwoye declared that neither Odoh nor any of those that gathered at the meeting had powers to conduct any form of election in the district without the knowledge of the state chairman and his executive committee.

He also frowned at the call by Odoh that members of the party in Enugu North District should jettison the zoning arrangement of the state caretaker committee and contest any position of choice at the oncoming state congress.

Odoh, who addressed journalists after the meeting, had said that “anything short of the state chairman of the party is not acceptable by the zone,” adding that Enugu North was being marginalised in the scheme of things in the party.

But responding to the development, Nwoye insisted that there was a plot to break the peace and unity that had prevailed in the party by certain persons who spread deliberate falsehood against the executive.

He equally dismissed, in its entirety, Odoh’s claim of alleged marginalisation of Enugu North Senatorial District by the party, saying the zone remained among the highest beneficiaries of APC appointments in the state.

Nwoye, therefore, urged the public to disregard the purported meeting and work for the success of the state congress.

IN another development, more than two million citizens and residents of Imo State have participated in the ongoing nationwide APC membership registration and revalidation exercise in the state.

The Technical Committee Chairman of the exercise in the state, who is also the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Paul Emeziem, disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri, yesterday.

Emeziem, who expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the exercise in the state, said it was a clear indication that the achievement of the party through the government of Hope Uzodimma is being appreciated by the people.

He added that the governor deserved accolades over the recent defection of Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, to the party and urged other party stakeholders to join hands with him to further consolidate the party’s fortunes.

Emeziem also used the opportunity to remind the party faithful of the need for continued peace and unity in the party.