Politics

Enugu APC Stakeholders At War Over Alleged N1.3bn Delegates’ Allowance

Published

3 years ago

January 9, 2023

All is not well with the Enugu state chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC over disagreement among stakeholders on the non-release of about N1.3 billion meant to pay delegates to the last National Convention and Special Presidential Convention of the party.

The development came as some members of the state chapter on Monday stormed the national secretariat of the party in protest against the state chairman and the governorship candidate.

The crisis is threatening preparations for the presidential rally of the party slated for January 11 in Enugu.

According to the protesters who submitted a written petition to the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee NWC of the party, both the state chairman of the party, Ugochukwu Agballah and the governorship candidate, Uche Nnaji must be made to give financial account of the party in the state.

This was as both men denied the allegations, saying the state chapter has not received the said funds from the national leadership.

Fidelis Edeh, Director-General of Nwakaibie Uche Nnaji Campaign Organization, told journalists that the onus is on the national secretariat of APC to confirm if such funds were released.

“APC should be the one to confirm and not the candidate,” he said.

Enugu State APC chairman, Agballah, said the claims made were untrue, insisting that they were yet to be mobilized financially by the national leadership.

“We are yet to get any money. The governorship candidate is the person funding the campaigns,” he said.

However, leader of the protesters and Chairman, Concerned Members of Enugu State APC, Comrade Adolphus Ude and chairman, said there had been “impunity, gross misconduct, fraudulent administration, embezzlement of party funds, and impunity being perpetrated by the state chairman and the governorship candidate.”

Ude who doubles as chairman, “Mainstream Enugu APC” and pioneer deputy chairman of the party in the State, said the national secretariat must get the duo to explain how the sum of N283 million meant for the expression of interest and nomination forms was spent.”

He said the money was to ensure that the party fields candidates for the governorship, and all the National Assembly and State Assembly seats in Enugu State to shore up her fortunes and also ensure that the party secures at least 25% of votes cast in the 2023 presidential election in the State.

They further contended that the sum of $1.5 million (N1.050 billion) being allowances for Enugu State delegates to the 2022 national convention and presidential convention has not been paid to the delegates.

Speaking further, he said: “These and related matters such as the irregular and controversial emergence of the new state executive, which are also before the courts, were laid before the national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, while he was the chairman of the APC Reconciliation Committee.

“Our notable party leaders in the state were also on a protest visit to the national leadership in August 2022 where they submitted a petition calling for the removal of Ugochukwu Agballah as the State party chairman and appointment of a Caretaker Chairman to save the state chapter of the party from destruction and disgrace. The signatories and delegation included; Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Sullivan Chime, former Governor of Enugu State; Barr. Eugene Odo, former Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly; Ambassador Christian Ugwu, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Poland, among many others.

“Although the chairman promised to look into the issues, we can understand that pressing party matters such as the national convention and presidential primary, overseeing the various primary elections and the party’s preparations for the 2023 general election, which he had to undertake immediately after his election as the national chairman must have preoccupied him.

“Unfortunately, all the issues we forewarned against and more are happening in the Enugu State chapter of the party and we believe that unless urgent and drastic steps are taken, the party faces a disastrous and scandalous outing in the state in the forthcoming general election.

“There is also the issue of hijack of the funds provided for preparation for the forthcoming 11th January 2023 presidential rally in Enugu and visit by our presidential candidate, Awiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima.

“Although serious damage has already been done to the party by the duo of Agballah and Nnaji, who in the real sense are not interested in the wellbeing and victory of the APC, but only in making brisk business at the expense of our party, we believe that the national leadership of the party; our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu; his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima; and our President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, could still work with the leaders and mainstream of the APC to remedy the situation before the general election.

“We are calling for the immediate removal of Agballah as the chairman of the APC in Enugu State and the appointment of a Caretaker Chairman to pilot the party through the 2023 general election.

“We call on the national leadership of the party to cause Agballah and Nnaji to immediately make available to the state’s delegates to the national convention and presidential primary election the allowances totaling about $1.5 million given to them.

“We call on the national leadership of the APC to cause Agballah and Nnaji to immediately account for the sum of N283 million released to them for the expression of interest and nomination forms for all the elective offices in Enugu in the 2023 general election.

“We call on the national leadership of the party to cause Agballah and Nnaji to release the funds made available for the preparations for the forthcoming presidential rally in Enugu.

“As loyal party members, we re-emphasize the need to address with dispatch these issues raised in our protest letter submitted here in order to reposition our party for resounding impact in the presidential election in the Enugu State.”

PUNCH

Politics

Wike: Why Removing Fubara Will Be Difficult – Ex-Commissioner

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

A former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tam-George, has said that attempts to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara would be difficult to sustain, citing what he described as the governor’s performance record and the lack of concrete allegations against him.

Tam-George made the remarks on Thursday while speaking on Prime Time on Arise Television, arguing that the impeachment process being initiated against Fubara was to scuttle his chance for a second term.

According to him, Governor Fubara has continued to place the needs of the people at the centre of his administration, with visible interventions in rural development, housing, education and healthcare.

He said this, in his view, has made it difficult for opponents to justify moves to remove the governor from office.

Tam-George also called on the All Progressives Congress, APC, to intervene, arguing that the party should not allow what he described as the humiliation of a sitting governor.

He said: “Well, all I think he needs to do is to do exactly what he’s been doing from the beginning, which is to place the people at the center of gravity of his administration, prioritize the needs of the people, so that the people can see the direct impact of government action in their lives.

“And that’s exactly what he’s doing in terms of rural development, in terms of housing sector transformation, which I mentioned that he is doing the same in education sector and in health.

“So if he continues, if he persists in placing the people’s need at the center of focus of his administration, there is no way they are going to be able to justify this kind of shenanigans.

“Because, if you look very carefully at the so called articles of impeachment, you will see that there is no specificity in terms of any infraction by the governor or his deputy.

“What they are trying to do is to make sure they scuttle the administration so that the governor doesn’t then get to the point where he will be seeking a second term.

“Let me be clear, just two days ago, Nyesom Wike was at one of the local governments, and he made it clear in a moment of epiphany, he made it clear that, look, if Governor Fubara were to get a second term in office, it will amount to his own political burial.

“So all of these things that we are seeing the so called impeachment proceedings they’ve initiated, it’s actually an effort to try to scuttle the prospects of the governor coming for a second term, and I don’t see how they will succeed.

“If you look at the so called articles of impeachment, as I said, they lack specificity in terms of the kind of infraction that they allege that the governor has committed. He has done nothing wrong, and they will see how the process will play out.

“My sense, and in fact, if I were to advise the governor, my sense is that he should just maintain the people, retain the people at the center of gravity of his administration, meet their needs, run a transparent administration as he always done, and then the truth will come out, and he will be able to defend the administration.

“I think the the governing APC should also step in because they can’t possibly allow the governor of the office with probably one of the best performance records in the country to be humiliated by some of these members of the assembly.”

Politics

Wike A ‘Pestilence’ On Rivers, I Resigned Because Of It – Ex-Commissioner

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

Austin Tam George, a former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, has described the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, as a destabilising force in Rivers State, accusing him of attempting to exert godfatherism over the state’s political affairs.

He argued that the move to impeach the governor is a calculated attempt to reassert political control and reduce Fubara’s growing influence.

Tam George, who served under Wike’s administration, made the remarks on Thursday while speaking on Prime Time on Arise Television.

He said he resigned as commissioner due to what he described as Wike’s propensity for chaos and instability and the reduction of governance to a personality-driven system.

According to him, the current political tension in the state is the culmination of Wike’s long-standing approach to power, which he said is now manifesting in efforts to control the state for personal political influence.

He said: “Nyesom Wike has been a complete pestilence on Rivers state. I served in his administration as commissioner for information. As you know, I resigned precisely because of these, his propensity for chaos, for instability and reducing government to a personality cult, more or less. And I’m so disappointed that this propensity has now crystallized today to a stage where the state is now held by the juggler by person who thinks that he will be political godfather over the rest of Rivers state.

“But what I think is going to happen in this final phase of this struggle is that Rivers’ people ultimately are going to resist and defeat this tendency to want to privatize the state, to want to capture the state for his own personal aggrandizement.

“Governor Fubara has been an excellent administrator. I have to say he’s spending money building people’s capacity, lifting communities out of poverty. Money you would have expected that he would have diverted to political godfathers are now being spent in critical sectors such as education, where he’s completely transforming the sector, in health where almost all the tertiary health care systems are revived, 122 primary health care centers spread across the 23 local government areas.

“There is a total transformation happening on a sector by sector basis, and this has endeared the governor to the people of the state.

“Now there is a strong likelihood that he may be seeking a second term to expand his legacy and to consolidate his achievements for the benefit of all. And this will mean that there is going to be, you know, a reduction of Wike’s influence.

“So what you see as an impeachment move is an attempt to try to reassert what they consider to be their leverage against the governor.”

Politics

Why We’re Impeaching Fubara — Rivers Assembly

Published

2 days ago

January 8, 2026

Editor

The Rivers State House of Assembly has given reasons for the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The Majority Leader of the Assembly, Major Jack, said the decision to impeach the governor and his deputy was based on their alleged persistent violation of the peace agreement brokered by President Bola Tinubu.

Jack made the allegation during plenary on Thursday while presenting the report detailing acts of misconduct against the governor.

According to him, Governor Fubara and his deputy had repeatedly disregarded the resolutions reached during reconciliation efforts aimed at restoring stability in the state.

He accused the two leaders of running the affairs of government without commitment to transparency and good governance.

“The governor and his deputy have continued to act in a manner that undermines democratic principles and accountability,” Jack said.

He further alleged that the peace deals facilitated by President Tinubu were breached on several occasions, including agreements reached during reconciliation meetings held in December 2023 and another in 2025.

Jack insisted that the continued failure of the governor and his deputy to honour the terms of the peace accord necessitated the impeachment process currently before the Assembly.