The alleged plot by Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama and some others stakeholders to hijack the All Progressive Congress, APC, structure in Enugu is threatening to divide the party.
The plot has been traced to the recently held Ward Congress where the result sheets and other sensitive materials were hijacked.
The Congress consequently produced two lists, which is the crux of the current crisis in the party.
Two parallel meetings were held in the state capital Tuesday during which over 200 political thugs invaded the state Secretariat to disrupt the State Caretaker Executive Committee meeting, presided over by the Chairman Dr. Ben Nwoye.
The thugs, had during the invasion siezed the Cameras of TVC and NTA from their Camara men who were covering the event, after which they chased away every body, including reporters who were present at the meeting.
At the meeting the party announced the suspension of Ex- Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Barr. Eugene Odoh, and three other members of the party in the state over alleged misconducts during the last ward congress
Nwoye, who was flanked by other Executive Committee members of the State working Caretaker body, announced the three other suspended members to include Mr. Flavour Eze, the Personal Assistant to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, Mr. El- Aja, and Ada Ogbu.
He stated that the suspended members were sanctioned following their anti democratic conducts during the last APC ward Congress.
The Chairman explained that the suspension is part of recommendation of a committee set up by the state Caretaker working committee to investigate the role of the said suspended members.
According to the Committee which investigated the four erring members, headed by the Enugu East zonal Caretaker committee Chairman, Chief Anike Nwoga, the former speaker and the three others were found to have been vested with responsibility of collecting fictitious names in their respective zones which they filed in as ward executives.
The report according to Nwoye, also uncovered that Odoh, and the three other members hired some mercenaries whom they used in writing fake results of the Ward congress at the South East zonal office of the APC.
He said that the Committee equally discovered that the former Speaker took the forged result to the INEC office on 3rd of July as directed by the Enugu Ward Congress committee chairman, Dr Ijeoma Arodiogbu, who was part of the the master minders of the electoral fraud.
“The result forging scheme was executed by Eugene Odoh, Flavour Eze, Ada Ogbu and El- Aja, and we must say no to this undemocratic conducts.
“As a country and state, we must say no to this antics and undemocratic acts by some people who do not wish our great party well. We must let them know that power belongs to the people.
Nwoye, who recieved a vote of confidence by the the state Exco, during the meeting, had announced the appointment of Chief Tony Ibekwe as the new Acting Zonal Caretaker Committee Chairman for Enugu West chapter of the party, following the death of it’s former Chairman, Ikechukwu Omenkukwu who died few months ago.
Similarly, Mr. Ejiofor Okoloagu, was named the state Chairman of the party in Igbo Etiti local government Area of the state.
However, reacting to his Purported suspension by some members of the party who converged in a hotel in Enugu to say that they have suspended him Nwoye, dismissed the act, insisting that the said members involved had no such powers to convene SEC meeting in the first instance.
He described the purported removal as a ruse and laghable , adding that those involved in the announcement were impostors.
“I will not respond to them because they are impostors. I just concluded a meeting with the real SEC members at the party office,” Nwoye told our Correspondent.
In his reaction, the former Speaker said, Nwoye is our former Chairman. He was suspended by over 40 members of SEC this morning and as such couldn’t have had the power or the required number to suspend anyone.
Efforts by our Correspondent to speak with the three other suspended members was unsuccesful as their phone lines were not reachable as at the time of filing this report.
ENDS