Enugu APC again suspends Chairman, Agballah and others

TThe All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu has again suspended its state chairman, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, and other executive members for alleged abuse of office.

This was announced on Saturday in a press conference by the State Publicity Secretary, Chief Micheal Ezeanyanwu, and other members of the State Executive Committee of the party in Enugu.

Ezeanyanwu said that members of the Enugu State Executive Committee had passed a vote of no confidence because of their anti-party activities.

“We, the members of the State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State, hereby express no confidence in Chief Ugochukwu Agballah (State Chairman) and Chief Augustine Alumonah (State Deputy Chairman).

“The others are Mr. Jude Aniogbo (State Treasurer) and Mr. Emeka Eze (State Organisation Secretary) and they are hereby suspended from the party.

“Our decision is based on a series of cases of abuse of office, usurpation of power, the creation of parliamentary group executive committees and the unconstitutional removal of party executive committees.

“Others include inciting a crisis in the party, in some local governments, etc., committed by the said officials against the party,” he said.

According to Ezeanyanwu, since his confirmation as the party’s national chairman, Agballah has been running the party’s affairs as if they were his private matter, without regard to the party constitution.

He said the suspended chairman had exercised the powers of his office as chairman of the party in the state arbitrarily and for personal reasons, including embezzlement and misappropriation of funds meant for the party.

He added that the recent embezzlement to the detriment of the party and its members related to his handling of the money allocated for the logistics of the Enugu State APC participants in the South East Stakeholders Meetings in Owerri and Ebonyi States.

According to him, the suspended officials had excluded the members of the party’s national executive committee and exercised the body’s power arbitrarily.

“They went so far as to unduly interfere in the party’s work in local government.

“Can you imagine that the chairman and the treasurer of the state conspired with the bank officials and gave them access to the party’s account without fulfilling the necessary constitutional requirement of the chairman and two other signatories to sign financial documents.

“The state chairman and treasurer also use their private accounts to transfer funds intended for the party in order to avoid traces.

“The state chairman, the deputy state chairman and the state organisation secretary were also once again involved in fomenting a crisis and a split in the party in some local governments and districts,” he added.

Ezeanyanwu alleged that the State Chairman through his deputy and the Organising Secretary instigated and formed faction leaders in Aku 3 District in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Areas and Abbi District in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Areas without the knowledge and consent of the SWC.

“Recently, in July, the State Chairman and the State Organising Secretary organised and attended meetings with the Deputy Chairman of Enugu South Local Government, other officials of the Local Government and some District Chairmen at the Signature Hotel and incited them to remove the Local Government Chairman by any means possible.

“He has attempted to create parallel executive bodies in Ezeagu, Udi and Awgu local government areas, which has plunged the party into chaos.

“His misconduct and the manner in which he has handled the activities of the party in Enugu State has resulted in Enugu State achieving the worst result in the just concluded general elections,” the chairman alleged.

“All these anti-party activities by these party enemies in the name of the party leadership culminated in the colossal and abysmal performance of the party in the state in the last general election despite the efforts of our gubernatorial candidate and we do not want a repeat of that.

“For this reason, the above-named individuals are hereby suspended with immediate effect.

Efforts to reach the controversial Chairman Agballah failed as his phone was switched off. The State Treasurer, Mr. Jude Aniogbo, however, declined to comment on the grounds that they do not involve themselves in the affairs of the State Working Committee.

“We will not engage with the SWC who claim to have suspended us because we are too busy,” Aniogbo said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that some party stakeholders had issued a vote of no confidence in Agballah in March because of his alleged arrogant leadership style.

The stakeholders led by a senior APC official, Mrs Ginika Tor, expressed dismay that Agballah had destroyed the party structure in the state by unconstitutionally suspending its founding fathers.

Among those suspended by Agballah were former Senate President Ken Nnamani, former Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime, former State Chairman Ben Nwoye and former Director General of Voice of Nigeria Odita Okechukwu.