Mmamel making the declaration before Mbah and PDP, Chieftain, Ikeje Asogwa
By Tony Adibe
The All Progressives Congress (APC), Enugu state, has accused more than 200 members of the party from the state currently holding various political appointments at the federal level of not supporting the party but rather pulling it down.
The party alleged that this is the main reason it’s always difficult for the party to score more than four per cent votes in the Coal City State, stressing that until the so-called chieftains, who in reality are “APC Political Merchants” in the state changed their bad and selfish mindsets towards the party, it would not make any headway during elections.
The state secretary of APC, Hon. Robert Ngwu, who made the allegations, told newsmen in Enugu, yesterday, that indigenes of the state hold ministerial, board chairmanship and membership, as well as heads of government agencies, yet the party has never done well in the state during elections.
Ngwu said that rather, such federal appointees work with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to undermine the APC and her candidates during elections. The APC state secretary cited the example of the recent endorsement of the guber candidate of the PDP in the state, Barr. Peter Mbah, by a chieftain of the APC, Mr. Joe Mmamel.
While dismissing the endorsement as nonissue, Ngwu stated that Mmamel, who is currently a member of the National Human Rights Commission, an appointment given to him as a member of APC, only joined the party to serve his pecuniary interests as he has no political value to add to the party or the PDP candidate he endorsed.
Enugu state chapter of APC said that Mmamel, like a few others of his ilk, who masquerade as APC chieftains, are actually “political merchants”, who joined the party to trade and scramble for federal appointments as they remain “PDAPC”.
Ngwu said that Mmamel was a former commissioner for Tourism under PDP government before he joined the APC and that alongside other “APC political merchants like him”, they have been working for both the PDP guger candidate as well as the presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar while pretending to be APC chieftains.
“We have more than 200 persons from Enugu state with federal appointments under the APC, but they don’t contribute a dime to the growth and development of the party in the state, neither do they support the party at the ward level. This is the reason APC has never achieved more than four percent of votes in Enugu state in the previous elections.
“As a matter of fact, if you check the 2019 general election results, you will find that all the so-called APC chieftains, including Mmamel lost their polling booths during the elections.
“They are in APC because of federal appointments, but working for PDP and Atiku while pretending to be working for APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But these are people who cannot deliver their polling units!” Ngwu said.
“This is why some of them whose antics are well known to the party, were sidelined so that they will not distract the party in her efforts to win Enugu state in 2023. The truth is that Enugu people are tired of PDP and the way the party has underdeveloped the state especially in insecurity and lack of infrastructure. And they are looking at APC as an alternative platform due to our credible candidates.
“This is exactly the trajectory the current leadership of the party under our guber candidate, Chief Uche Nnaji and the state Chairman, Hon. Ugochukwu Agballah is trying to change, and the same political merchants are fighting them, running from pillar to post all in a bid to grab the party’s presidential campaign money.
“So, the party is not threatened one bit by Mmamel’s tantrums. In fact, we are not surprised at all. What perhaps may surprise some people is the fact that he is removing the veil to dance naked in the market square. Otherwise, we already know some of them working for the PDP, even as members of PDP campaign council in the state.
A video making the rounds in the state shows Mmamel, in company of PDP members from Ezeagu local government areas of the state, under the banner of Ezeagu Igbudu Movement announcing the endorsement of PDP’s Peter Mbah as their guber choice. Mmamel was also heard saying that he still remains a member of PDP in Enugu and APC in Abuja.
