From Maurice Okafor,Enugu.
The state secretariat of the All Progressives Congress[APC] in Enugu state have been taken over by law enforcement agencies over reports that armed thugs invaded the premises and disrupted the activities of Stake caretaker working committee led by Dr Ben Nwoye. The obvious reason is to avoid a break down of law and order since the deputy caretaker committee chairman of the party,Prince Gilbert Chikwado on Tuesday,August 10,emerged as head of a faction of the State working committee[SWC] who said they have removed as chairman of the state caretaker committee. The internal crisis rocking the party in the state degenerated based on the controversial results of the ward congresses of the party,held on Saturday,July 31.
Prior to the ward congress, the chairman of the state caretaker committee,Dr Ben Nwoye has reached a peace truce with other stakeholders of the party especially those of them at Abuja led by the Minister of Foreign affairs,Mr Geoffrey Onyeama and Chief Ken Nnamani, a former Senate President.
The short lived peace truce in the party stems from Dr Nwoye's inauguration of those he claimed won elections as the new part ward officials on August 2, at the party secretariat. He told news men that the result sheets were hijacked by some juggernauts of the party,who went ahead to fill it with fictitious names against the authentic party members who won the election. But the action of Dr Nwoye attracted the wrath of his deputy,Prince Gilbert Chikwado and some other members of the State working committee[SWC] who said that his action violated the constitution of the party,stating he did not explore all the laid down procedures within the party constitution and would have laid his complaint to ward congresses appeal panel,when set up by the National Working Committee[NWC] of the party. They accused Nwoye of trying to stimulate a new wave of crisis in the party barley few days a peace deal was struct among the party stake holders.
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The assistant caretaker committee chairman of the party, Prince Chikwado supported by 41 out of the 47 members of the State Working Committee (SWC), who briefed news men after a meeting on Tuesday, August 10,said their final resolve of the party, after a meeting in Enugu yesterday announced the impeachment of Dr Ben Nwoye as the party's caretaker committee chairman. Even as he has only few months to end his tenure but they embarked on the rescue mission to forestall a new wave of crisis in the party. Prince Chikwado assured that a new leadership of the party in Enugu state will emerge after the congresses and he has no ambition to run as the next stat chairman of the party.
Prince Chikwado stated,"“The conduct of Nwoye on Aug. 2, 2021 just two days after the congress is alien to the constitution of the party and a flagrant disregard of party guidelines for the ward congress. “The appeal panel of the party had not sat to look into grievances of party members when Nwoye purportedly inaugurated the ward officers,” he said. He lamented that the party leadership under Dr Nwoye has riddled from one crisis to anither since 2014,at the cost of winning even a Councillorship position in Enugu state and the party cannot afford to continue in that direction, even as it seems as the symptoms of some of the crises were deliberately planted to weaken the party, therefore they decided to remove Dr Nwoye as a step in rescuing the party from anither wave of crisis.
Prince Chikwado stated, “We are carrying out this obligation in order to rescue the party from further implosion. Nwoye went against the constitution of the party which he swore to protect.
“We no longer have confidence in him due to his leadership style which has made the party a laughing stock in the state,” he said. “We are only interested in rescuing the party and to produce a chairman who will lead us to success in 2023,”
The AUŤHORITY gathered that at his own faction meeting held at the party secretariat,Nwoye said he has suspended Hon Eugene Odoh a former Speaker of the Enugu state house of assembly, Chief Flavour Eze, a personal assistant to Minister of Foreign affairs,Princess Ada Ogbu and Elder El Ajah,for allegedly hijacking result sheets meant for the July 31st ward congress in the state.
Nwoye described his purported suspension as a ruse, 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,”
