Ebonyi: APGA Governorship Ticket Crisis Deepens as
Ohanaeze Reacts
The crisis in the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has shifted
from Imo and Anambra States to Ebonyi State where members of the party have threatened
to leave the party on the account of the inability to present a governorship
candidate for the 2019 elections.
The party faithful and leaders in all the local government areas of
the state have expressed willingness to follow their preferred candidates to
another party if the National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Oye fails to
intervene. Speaking to the Director General of Igbo Mandate Congress, IMC,Rev Obinna
Akukwe in Abuja yesterday, some leaders
of the party in Ebonyi State claimed that they came to discuss with the
leadership of another party in preparation for moving out en-masse.
The state executives of the party on the 24st of
September had in a letter of notification to INEC, National Chairman and
National Secretary of the party, notified them of the impeachment of the State
Chairman Mr Ricky Okoro-Uka on
allegations of working for the opposition, anti-party activities , selling of
membership card for N5000 naira and converting the state apparatus to a family
affair. The notice of removal was signed by members of the state exco including
Mr Emmanuel Edegri (Deputy Chairman) Aja
Ogbonnaya (Secretary), Mrs Amata Ebebe (Women Leader), Anyigor
Malachy ( Youth Leader) Otobo Jeremiah (Abakaliki LGA Chairman), Ogbonnaya
Sunday Nweke (Afikpo LGA Chairman) among others while Chief Sunday Nwode was
elected as the new Chairman.
The grouse of the party members
in Ebonyi State was that their preferred candidate, a popular youth leader, Rev Paschal
Gold Nwaigwe, who had spent considerable funds in reorganizing the party apparatus
in Ebonyi State in preparation to challenge Governor Dave Umahi, was frustrated
out of the party, on the alleged influence of the incumbent They claimed that
APGA was among the parties the Governor allegedly bought over with N2million
naira each in the state in the controversial meeting of all parties with Gov
Umahi and that the said governor is manipulating the party in Ebonui State with
the connivance of the national leadership.
The aggrieved party members told Igbo Mandate Congress IMC that Rev Paschal Gold Nwaigwe had already spent
funds millions of naira in mobilizing grass root to support APGA . Rev Nwaigwe
had earlier contested for the governorship of the state in 2015 under the
platform of African Democratic Congress, ADC, where he placed sixth out of
fifteen candidates.. The APGA faithful believe that the National leadership of
the party should have given the ticket to the popular youth leader.
Igbo Mandate Congress IMC learnt that a patron of APGA and former
governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife had intervened in the Ebonyi
APGA crisis by informing the National Chairman in a letter that’ it is very
unfortunate that APGA has no candidate in a core Igbo State like Ebonyi” and
implored the former to give the vacant ticket to Rev Nwaigwe
A National Officer of APGA told Igbo Mandate Congress that Rev Nwaigwe refused
to pay the national body the N2million naira nomination form in full and
therefore is not fit to fly the ticket of the party,
The development made some aspirants who earlier wanted to contest
on the platform of APGA in the state to drop the party for other parties s to
the extent that only five aspirants are contesting for the House of Assembly
from the party while none indicated interest in either the Senate or House of
Representatives.
APGA had got crisis in Imo State where the aspirants including the immediate governor of the state,
Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, Chairman of ABC Transport Plc, Mr Frank Nneji, Hon Uche
Onyeagocha, Chief Charles Onyeagboka, Dr Sam Amadi, Chief Bright Nwanne.
Hon Daniel Kanu, Hon Nick
Opara-Ndudu, Chief Okey Eze, Chief Humphrey Anumudu and Mr Stanley Amuchie, an
astute banker who just resigned as group general manager, Zenith Bank Plc, cast
a vote of no confidence on the National Chairman Chief Victor Oye , for
conducting a kangaroo primary which trumped up Ifeanyi Ararume, who decamped from
the ruling APC to APGA two weeks earlier.
In Anambra State, APGA had
been criticized for asking Chief Ifeanyi Uba and Senator Ukachukwu to stand
down for Bianca Ojukwu, widow of Chief Emeka Ojukwu, erstwhile Biafran leader.
While Chief Ifeanyi Uba moved to another party in frustration, Senator Nicholas
Ukachukwu ignored the party and
contested for the primaries and defeated Ojukwu’s widow.
The crisis in Anambra is not
yet resolved. Bianca Ojukwu wrote off the recent events in APGA as unfortunate.
According to Bianca “As
a member of this party’s board of trustees, I am deeply concerned that
mercenaries would appear to have hijacked the operations of our party
machinery. APGA is today facing an existential threat and the overall image of
our party is in tatters.
Meanwhile Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Abuja has expressed worry at the
crisis in APGA. For two consecutive times, the Imeobi have described the happenings
at imo, Anambra and Ebonyi States as unfortunate and a disgrace to the Igbo
race.
