Former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani
By Tony Adibe
The All Progressives Congress (APC), Enugu State Chapter said it has sent an unreserved apologies to Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma for alleged insults and constant verbal attacks by some aggrieved leaders of the party in Enugu State.
The Enugu state secretary of APC, Hon Robert Ngwu in a statement made available to newsmen in Enugu on Sunday, named some aggrieved leaders of the party in the state, including former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, former Enugu Governor, Barr. Sullivan Chime, and former Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Eugene Odoh, among others, accusing them of constantly insulting Gov Uzodimma and falsely accusing him of being responsible for their misfortune in APC in the state.
However, Ngwu said the APC leaders, who recently boycotted the presidential rally of the party in Enugu over some grievances, are “victims of their own perfidy”, accusing them of “double dealing and anti party activities.”
The State chapter of APC was reacting to reports in some media outlets about alleged vituperations and wild allegations against genuine party leaders in the state and zone by some disgruntled leaders of the party in the State during a recent press conference in Enugu.
The Enugu APC said that it was not enough that the leaders stayed away from the rally, although their absence was not noticed, but that they they addressed a press conference where they did not only de-market the party but made unfounded allegations and denigrating comments against party leaders in the zone, especially the Governor of Imo State and Southeast Coordinator of Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Council, Sen Uzodimma.
Ngwu lashed out at the aggrieved party leaders for always spreading lies and false propaganda against the party, especially in their claim that the state chairman of the party Barr Ugochukwu Agballah was not a member of the party; and that the Guber Candidate, Chief Uche Nnaji had a running mate from the same zone.
Former Enugu Governor, Barr. Sullivan Chime
The statement reads: “Ordinarily, the APC Enugu state would have ignored the disgruntled leaders, but for their continuous vainglorious bandying of the name of Sen Hope Uzodimma, a dedicated party leader in the zone who has been making sacrificial efforts to grow the party in the zone.
“On behalf of the teeming and esteemed members of APC in Enugu state, we, therefore, tender an unreserved apology to Gov Uzodimma over these ceaseless insults and ungracious dragging of his name into the local politics of Enugu state by these semi-expired politicians.
“It is time the world noticed that these so-called leaders or ‘takeholders’ had been the cancerous tumour killing the party in the state before they were excised through a delicate surgical procedure. At best, these are Abuja-based politicians who claim to be APC in Abuja and PDP in the state. They are, indeed, the PDAPC for all intents and purposes.
“We invite anybody who cares to carry out a simple investigation of the antecedents of these men in Enugu state since they joined the APC from the Peoples Democratic Party. Unmistakably, they are still tied to the umbilical cord of the PDP, as they had clandestinely worked for the PDP in past elections in the state.
“How else can one explain why these so-called APC leaders would post the results they did in the previous elections in the state where they not only lost their polling booths but the party itself only scored two per cent of votes in the state during the 2019 general elections?
“Yet these same people had, before the elections, pocketed the campaign funds and claimed they entered into a bargain with the PDP to be allocated 25 per cent of votes for the APC presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari. Alas! They all lost in their polling units with the dismal performance of the party in the state.
“This time, these politicians are at it again, scheming for the party’s campaign funds with the same sing-song of entering into a bargain with PDP to be allocated 25 per cent of votes in the state.”
Ngwu noted that the New APC in the state has undergone reformation and rehabilitation, with membership growing exponentially in geometric progression under the leadership of Ugochukwu Agballah and Chief Uche Nnaji.
The party said that the huge turn out of party faithful during the APC presidential rally in Enugu on January 11, despite all the antics of the aggrieved leaders to frustrate the party, was a testimony to that fact.
“Worthy of note is the duplicity of these men who have continued to mouth the same opposition propaganda and spread lies against the party. For instance, how can a former governor like Sullivan Chime say that APC guber candidate Uche Nnaji is running with the state secretary from the same zone when he knows that the deputy guber candidate is Barr George Ogara from Enugu North senatorial district? He knows the identity of the deputy guber candidate, who is a member of the same legal profession as him.
“If he is not working for the opposition, why would he publicly say that the party’s guber candidate is running with somebody from the same zone? He knows that Robert Ngwu, the state secretary was a placeholder who had since resigned and was replaced as running mate by Barr Ogara (SUIT NO: FHC/EN/CS/196/2022).
“…Whereas the new APC Enugu state, out of respect for their age, would not want to say that these men are politically irrelevant, but the party clearly did not notice their absence at the rally. However, the party will continue to keep its doors open for dialogue and reconciliation in the hope that they will repent and be ready to genuinely contribute to the success of the party and not continue in double-dealing.
“Suffice it to say that the party is poised to score above 50 per cent of votes for our presidential candidate and win all the other positions in the state, including the governorship election”.
