By Tony Adibe
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Enugu State Chapter on Wednesday has announced that the former President of Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani and two other key members of the party are at the risk of suspension or expulsion as their fate now hangs in the balance pending the outcome of a five-man Disciplinary Committee.
The party, therefore, inaugurated a five-man Disciplinary Committee to look into petitions and reports of fact-finding committees that investigated allegations of anti-party activities made against Senator Nnamani and two other members of the party in the state.
The Disciplinary Committee headed by the State Assistant Legal Adviser, Barr. Vincent Chieyina and secretary, Hon Jekwu Nnaji is to invite Senator Nnamani and two others, including a former Commissioner in Enugu State, Ozor Joe Mmamel and Mr. Nelson Maduka Arum; to answer charges against them.
The Enugu APC also announced the banning of Independent Presidential Campaign Council in the state, alleging that the group led by Ken Nnamani and Ben Nwoye were being used to campaign for the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) in the state.
The State Secretary of the party, Dr. Robert Ngwu, who presented the resolution of the State Executive Committee (SEC) after their meeting, at the party’s zonal office Enugu, said the party would not hesitate to expel or suspend Senator Nnamani, Ozor Mmamel and Arum, if found culpable and depending on the recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee.
Dr. Ngwu said: “The Party is fully aware of the nefarious activities of the previous administration of the Party in the 2015 and 2019 General Elections.
“With that in mind, the Party reviewed various petitions and reports from the Fact-Finding Committees against Sen. Ken Nnamani, Ozor Joe Mmamel, and Mr Maduka Arum, a.k.a Mama, from their different local government areas. The petition bordered on anti-party activities and other offences against the APC Constitution and the Electoral Act of 2022.
“Sen. Ken Nnamani was accused of campaigning openly for the candidacy of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at a rally held at the Michael Okpara Square Enugu on January 20, 2023.
“Sen. Nnamani was represented by Ben Nwoye, an expelled former Chairman of Enugu state APC who has been working against the candidate of APC (Chief Uche Nnaji), and Mr Maduka Arum, a.k.a Mama, an acolyte and head of Ken Nnamani Political group.
“Ken Nnamani has had a history of anti-party activities. He joined APC from PDP some years ago and has consistently campaigned against APC candidates, including Sen. Ayogu Eze, in 2019. The Party could not bring him to order because the Party then had no moral authority under the leadership of Mr Ben Nwonye.”
The Enugu SEC alleged that on January 11th 2023, Sen Nnamani did everything to sabotage the APC massively attended presidential rally and tried to bring masquerade, which was an apparent contradiction of the Electoral Act, which he took credit for crafting.
“The Electoral Act in Section 92 (4) stipulates that no candidate or aspirant should employ masquerades for any purpose during the campaign. On record, Ken Nnamani brought masquerade to the airport and ordered them to go to the rally. Thank God for the diligence of our Youth Wing, who ensured that Ken Nnamani’s branded masquerade did not make it to the campaign event. That action would have sabotaged and put our presidential candidate in legal jeopardy,” the party noted.
The SEC stated that apart from Sen. Ken Nnamani the Party has also received petitions against Ozor Joe Mmamel and Mr. Maduka Arum a.k.a Mama from Ezeagu Local Government Area and Enugu South Local Government Area respectively, all focusing on anti-party.
“The State Executive Committee of the Party has therefore forwarded all the petitions, and the fact-finding reports to the State Disciplinary Committee for investigation and recommendation of appropriate sanctions.
“The Party will not hesitate to suspend or expel the accused, if found guilty by the Disciplinary Committee.”
When the State Chairman, Barr Ugochukwu Agballah put the SEC resolution to voice vote it received a resounding yes with no dissenting voice. Agballah charged the disciplinary Committee to follow the established law of natural justice by giving the accused persons fair hearing.
The state chairman banned the group known as Independent Presidential Campaign Council in the state, noting that no group should be deceiving itself that it is campaigning for the Presidential and vice presidential candidates of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, while campaigning against other candidates of the party in the state.
The party noted that a petition was also written against Mr Ben Nwoye and Comrade AC Ude, but however, the duo were already expelled since 2022 and that since they are no longer members of the APC, the petitions against them were rendered sine die.
The resolution of the party further states, “2023 General Election is 30 days from today. Under normal circumstances, we would ignore recent activities from some of our misguided members. However, anti-party is a terminal sin against any political party, so the State Executive Committee of APC believes it is imperative to tackle this matter head-on.
“Anti-party activities refer to actions or attitudes that go against the goals and principles of a political party. These activities can harm the Party’s reputation and effectiveness and may lead to internal divisions and conflicts.
“Additionally, suppose individuals within a party engage in anti-party activities. In that case, it can erode trust and unity among party members and make it difficult for the Party to achieve its goals. In a democratic system, a political party plays a vital role in representing the voices and interests of its supporters and competing for power within the government.
“When anti-party activities occur, it can undermine the ability of the Party to fulfil that role and harm the functioning of the democratic system as a whole.
“Anti-party activities can also lead to a loss of support from voters and donors, which can harm the Party’s ability to compete in elections and implement its policies. In some cases, anti-party activities may even lead to the expulsion of party members or the formation of splinter groups, which can further weaken the Party and make it less effective.”
The party said that it was due to Sen Nnamani’s ambivalent political nature that no delegate agreed to vote for him when he contested for Deputy National Chairman, scoring only one vote.
“Likewise, when he contested for the presidency at last year’s APC convention, he scored zero votes. Even the delegates he nominated refused to vote for him, saying that voting for him was the same as voting for PDP.”
The party alleged that for the past years, Ken Nnamani had been the sole nominator of councillorship slots and Local Government Area chairmanship slots in Enugu South Local Government Area, his Local Government Area of Origin, and that he single-handedly decided who was given nomination within PDP in Enugu South LGA.
“His comprador Political activities have so compromised him that he is no longer able to campaign for Ahmed Bola Tinubu, our Presidential candidate.
“Last four years, Ken Nnamani led APC to a disastrous outing where they garnered only 2% of the total vote cast because he and his fellow conspirators pocketed all the campaign funds, divided it amongst themselves, and gave no dime to the ward.
“Ken Nnamani has a history of political betrayals. In 1991 he betrayed SDP. While in SDP, he was campaigning for the NRC governorship candidate of Joe Nwodo. In 1999 he was the closest confidant of the APP governorship candidate, yet he betrayed the then APP governorship candidate for Chimaroke’s PDP, which made them give him their senatorial ticket a day after the governorship election of January 10th 1999. This was the reason why PDP members voted against him and voted for Uche Nnaji, who moved over to AD in 1999.
“If not for Obasanjo’s Maurice Iwu’s electoral heist of 2003, Ken Nnamani has never won a freely contested election apart from the 2003 Obasanjo/ Maurice Iwu massively rigged election where he was awarded victory against the rightful winner of that election. The 2019 general election, Ken Nnamani would only garner seven votes after pocketing the entire campaign funds,” the party alleged.
