Politics

Enugu APC Crisis: Stakeholders Alert On Impending Danger

Published

4 years ago

November 24, 2021

Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Enugu West Senatorial Zone, on Tuesday, declared that the party has no chairman in Enugu State.

This came amidst claims by Barr. Ugo Agballa that he was elected chairman during one of the congresses conducted in the State earlier in October.

Another congress also produced Comrade Adolphus Ude as chairman of the party in the Coal City State.

But at a stakeholders meeting held in Oji-River Local Government Area, the stakeholders said Agballah, a non-member of the party could not in any way be said to be the party’s chairman.

They recalled that prior to the State elective congress, a zoning committee was set up and its recommendations were adopted by all the leaders of the party from the three senatorial zones of the State.

The stakeholders said the recommendations led to further micro-zoning of positions which saw to the choice of Group Capt. Joe Orji (rtd.) as a consensus chairman.

They disclosed that the recommendations were signed by all the leaders, with the exception of the foreign affairs minister, Mr. Geofrey Onyeama.

In a communique issued after their meeting, the stakeholders said they had “watched with disgust and disappointment the intentional efforts of disgruntled elements in APC within and outside our Senatorial zone, in the past several weeks, to destroy APC in Enugu State, we met today, 23rd of November, 2021.”

The communique was signed by Hon. Vinmartins Obiora Ilo, Ozo Joe Mmamel, Group Capt. Joe Orji, (rtd.), Rt. Hon. Nwafor Chiedozie, Hon. Maureen Anosike, among others.

While maintaining that no congress was held in the State, the stakeholders said in the communique that “on the 16th of October, 2021, which was the day scheduled for the State Congress, the said Congress Committee without publishing the list of delegates for the Congress and without conducting the accreditation of delegates arbitrarily without prior notice moved the Congress from its original venue at the Golden Royale Event Centre, Independence Layout, Enugu to Destiny Event Centre, New Haven Enugu.

“That on getting wind of the change of venue, thousands of delegates who had come to formally ratify all the consensus candidates as elected officials of the Party arrived at the new venue but were denied access to the venue by hired thugs stationed at the entrance. While at the gate, the members of the Congress Committee arrived and were let into the new venue by the said thugs.

“That within ten minutes of their said arrival, the said Committee were whisked away from the venue consequent upon the commotion and fracas that ensued within and outside the venue between the delegates and the thugs.

“That though we were denied access into the venue, we could see all the happenings within the Event Centre as it was an open arena.

“That the members of the Committee were taken straight to the Enugu Airport, from where they flew back to Abuja that evening without any Congress activity taking place.

“That no Congress held in Enugu on the 16th of October, 2021.

“That no local State Congress Committee was constituted or participated in the purported Congress.

“That we later heard and saw on the social media that one Hyacinth Ugochukwu Agballah from Udi in Ezeagu/Udi Federal Constituency claimed to have been declared elected as the Chairman by the said Committee.

“That the said Ugochukwu Agballa was a member of the PDP, a rival political party in the State as at the second week of July, 2021, when he publicly indicated intention to join our dear party as a member and by which time the revalidation/registration exercise of members and new members of the party had been suspended pending the conclusion of Congresses and National Convention.

“That the said Ugochukwu Agballa purportedly obtained an old discarded membership card slip which was backdated and attached same to his nomination form.

“That the said Ugochukwu Agballa is not a registered member of APC and therefore lacks the right to vote or be voted for into any of the elective positions of the Party (See Article 9.3(i) of the Constitution of the Party).

“That the said Ugochukwu Agballa is not a registered voter and does not have an INEC Voters Card.

“It is important and unfortunate to note that this travesty is being championed, promoted and supported by one of our respected sons, the Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama and his hirelings.

“It should also be noted that Mr Onyeama is the only leader of our party in Enugu State who has tacitly refused to sign the zoning agreement as adopted by the APC in Enugu State.”

They demanded that “the purported return of Ugochukwu Agballa as the Chairman-elect of the APC in Enugu State be nullified.

“That the said Ugochkwu Agballa and his enablers are acting alone and pursuing their selfish and destructive agenda. Neither do they have the mandate or represent the interest of APC Udi/Ezeagu Federal Constituency or APC Enugu West Senatorial District.

“That as the consensus candidate for the office of APC State Chairman, Enugu State that Group Capt. Orji be declared and inaugurated as the new State Chairman of the Party in the State without further delay.

“That all the consensus candidates as contained in the list submitted by the three Senatorial Districts and as endorsed by the stakeholders/Party members be declared as the new executives of the party in the State.

“That since the consensus lists from Enugu East and Enugu North Senatorial Districts remain intact, that the Enugu West Senatorial Consensus list agreed to, adopted and signed by Enugu West stakeholders should not be tampered with.

“That if nothing is done urgently to correct this anomaly, that our position as APC Enugu West is that ZONING IS DEAD IN APC, ENUGU STATE.

“Consequent on non remediation of this injustice, we will call on all sons and daughters of Enugu West, both within and outside our party who have interest in contesting for Governorship of Enugu State or National offices of the party, to jump into the ring as all offices will be thrown open.

“Finally we remind all members of our great party that the debacle and disgraceful defeat of APC in the just concluded Anambra Governorship Election is still fresh in our minds

“That woeful embarrassment was as a result of the imposition of unpopular candidates and unconstitutionality perpetrated by enemies within our party, whose only agenda is to destroy APC and make it unable to win elections in the South-East.”

(DAILY POST)

Politics

Why I left Tinubu’s Govt — Former Aide Aliyu Audu Declares

Published

13 hours ago

June 16, 2025

Editor

A former Senior Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Affairs, Aliyu Audu, has revealed that he resigned from the administration in order to actively campaign against Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

Speaking on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Audu said his decision was driven by a matter of “principle and conscience,” as he accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.

“It confirmed it on one hand, and on the other hand, it strengthened my resolve to not work for him in 2027,” Audu said, referring to Tinubu’s Democracy Day speech where the president claimed to enjoy seeing the opposition in disarray.

“I couldn’t in all honesty and in my conscience be in his government knowing I’m plotting against removal in 2027, because I will, and by God, we will remove him. Collectively, Nigerians will install a leader that will be our chosen, not his chosen. Not emilokan (my turn), but awa lokan (our turn), in fact, gbogbo wa lokan (all of us).”

He also criticised the inclusion of Nyesom Wike, a PDP member and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, in the APC-led government, questioning his loyalty and the legitimacy of such a move.

“What is Wike doing in our government? If he’s going to leave the PDP, he should leave. If we’re doing a government of national unity, you deal with the party, not individuals. The party is what we vote for — not Bola Tinubu but APC; not Atiku but PDP; not Peter Obi but Labour Party.”

Audu’s resignation letter, dated June 8, criticised the APC’s political trajectory and warned against what he described as a deliberate silencing of opposition voices. In a follow-up statement, he clarified that while he does not support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he would not lend himself “as an instrument to reduce Nigeria to a one-party state.”

“If we now begin to silence or crush opposition simply because we have the upper hand, then we are no different from the very system we once criticised under Obasanjo in 2003,” he said.

Politics

VIDEO: How Peter Obi Betrayed Me – Kenneth Okonkwo In New Interview

Published

3 days ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

Veteran actor and ex-spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of betrayal in the wake of internal party disputes.

In a viral interview with Symfoni which started trending on Saturday, Okonkwo, who officially exited the Labour Party in February 2025, revealed that Obi went against his advice and returned to support the embattled Julius Abure-led faction of the party, despite alleged warnings.

According to him, Obi was misled by LP executives who claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had recognised them.

He said, “Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say it emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me.

“The Julius Abure-led LP members lied to Obi that the Independent National Electoral Commission had accepted them and Obi surreptitiously went back to them but I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity and even if INEC has accepted them, that is not a criterion for you to go back and start dealing with them because they have shown that they are not democratic. If you go back to them, they will destroy your political career and everything you have said about integrity will die.’”

He said that despite privately urging Obi not to align with a group he described as “undemocratic” and “agents of the government,” Okonkwo said Obi went ahead to publicly endorse them.

“I told Obi that these people had become agents in the hands of the government to destabilise him. What they did was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional, I told him that if he went back to them, I wouldn’t join him in doing so.

“Thereafter, I called all the people that were in the inner circle and told them the same thing about what Obi was trying to do. I told them he wanted to go back with the Abure people and if he did, I wouldn’t go back with him because I do not swallow back my words.

“And after saying all those things, within like 72 hours, Obi went back to Abure’s office to publicly endorse them and while he was there talking to them, one of the leaders in that executive sent me the video to mock me that the person I was fighting for against them has come to their office to endorse them.

“It was when INEC dissociated itself from Abure that Obi came out to start acting neutral but I told him he could not be neutral and something had to be done,” he added.

The Labour Party has been embroiled in a prolonged leadership crisis, with opposing factions laying claim to the party’s national structure.

The Abure-led faction has faced allegations of financial mismanagement and anti-democratic practices, which critics say contradict the party’s reformist image.

Okonkwo, a known loyalist of Obi’s political ideology, cited these irregularities as his reason for quitting the party earlier in the year.

Watch video below:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202

Politics

Amaechi Slams Tinubu’s Policies In Fresh Outburst

Published

4 days ago

June 12, 2025

Editor

Former Minister of Transportation and two-time governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the coalition opposition to kick President Bola Tinubu out of office if Nigeria is to escape its deepening economic crisis.

In a no-holds-barred interview with the BBC, Amaechi, a founding member and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, lamented the country’s deteriorating condition and signalled his willingness to help forge a new opposition coalition to rescue the nation.

“People are dying. People are starving. I myself am feeling the effects of hunger,” he said, painting a grim picture of life under the current administration.

Amaechi’s statement comes in the wake of the APC’s recent endorsement of Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for 2027, a move Amaechi openly questioned.

While reiterating his loyalty to the party, he warned that fidelity to a political platform should never come at the cost of national conscience.

“If the government is failing the country, you don’t just go along because you’re in the same party. You know that’s not right,” he stated emphatically.

Though he stopped short of confirming a 2027 presidential bid, the former minister said the option remained on the table.

“Certainly, I believe I can make a meaningful contribution,” he added, hinting that his political journey may not yet be over.

He spoke of widespread poverty, spiralling food insecurity, and daily tragedies that now dot the national landscape.

Reflecting on his years as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Amaechi lamented that the number of out-of-school children then pegged at 10 million, had since ballooned.

The economic hardship, he said, had also deepened insecurity.

“The Boko Haram insurgency is not just a religious crisis. Many of those involved are driven by desperation and hunger,” he asserted, linking terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping to a broader socioeconomic collapse.

Amaechi’s declaration added momentum to an emerging political realignment.

Talks were already underway among key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, as they explored the possibility of a unified front against Tinubu in 2027.

Even ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and once a key Tinubu ally had signalled interest in backing an opposition alliance.

But as opposition forces stir, the ruling party continues to absorb defectors, prompting fears of Nigeria drifting toward a one-party state, a scenario Amaechi warned could undermine democracy and silence dissent.

“We’re thinking that if we come together and win the election, the country will certainly witness change,” he said, suggesting an urgent need for a credible alternative.