Story by Jonathan Lois
As controversy continues to trail the outcome of the state congress of the Enugu State chapter of the All Progresives Congress (APC), held on October 16, 2021, the Enugu West Senatorial zone where the chairmanship position was zoned to has rejected the outcome of the congress.
Enugu West Senatorial zone consists of Aninri/Awgu/Oji- River Federal Constituency and Ezeagu/Udi Federal Constituency.
In a petition to the party’s Appeal Committee in Enugu state, the concesus Chairmanship candidate from Enugu West Senatorial zone, Group Captain Joseph Iloabanafor seeks from the Appeal Committee that the purported return of Ugochukwu Agballa as the chairman-elect of the APC in Enugu state be nullified.
That as the concesus candidate for the office of the chairman, he, Group Captain Joseph Iloabanafor should be declared as the new Chairman of the All Progresives Congress, APC in Enugu state.
Initially it was Dr Kingsman Obinna Chikelu and five others, who later step down for group capital Joseph Iloabanafor, to become the consensus chairman of APC Enugu state.
He also seek that all the concesus candidates as contained in Annex “C, D & E” in the petition to the Appeal Committee and as endorsed by the stakeholders and party members be declared as new executives in the state.
In the petition, Group Captain Joseph Iloabanafor had claimed that prior to the congress, the stakeholders and members of the APC in Enugu state pursuant to Article 20(I)(a) of APC Construction held series of meetings for the purposes of zoning and possibly agreeing on candidates for the election by concesus.
According to him, the first of such meetings called by the former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani who is a member of the National Caretaker Committee of party held on September 23, 2021 and that at the meeting, a nine-man Committee headed by Hon Emma Okenwa was appointed to review the issue of zoning the political offices and report back to the stakeholders.
Iloabanafor further stated that on October 10, 2021 at a re-convened meeting, the Okenwa led Committee submitted their report which zoned the political offices for the state congress to the three Senatorial Districts of Enugu state namely East, North and West.
He said the said report was unanimously adopted by the stakeholders who then urged the districts to go home and further micro-zone and possibly come up with concesus candidates for adoption by the stakeholders and party members.
Further more, he said that the office of the chairman among others was zoned to Aninri/Awgu/Oji River Federal Constituency where he belonged and that the stakeholders at the.meeting after considering and adopting the micro zoning of the offices adopted the candidates for the purposes of concesus.
“I was screened by the Committee that was sent by the National Caretaker Committee led by Dr. Ijoma Arodiogbu and that on the day of the congress, without publishing the list of delegates, and without accreditation, the Committee moved the Congress from its original venue.
“The new venue, they were denied access by suspected hired thugs at the entrance but members of the National Caretaker Committee were allowed access when they arrived explaining that within ten minutes of their arrival, they were whisked away consequent upon a fracas that ensued,” he said.
Group Captain Iloabanafor concluded by saying that there was no APC congress in Enugu regretting that he was later told that one Ugochukwu Agballa from Udi in Ezeagu Federal Constituency who as at second week of July, 2021 was a member of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, a rival party claimed to have been declared as the state Chairman by the said Committee.
