Chief  Victor Umeh

By Onwuka Nzeshi

Former members of its  National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressive Grand Alliance(APGA) Saturday  advised the Board of Trustees (BoT)of the party to convene  a fresh  national  convention to elect new leaders of the party.

The former party chieftains who met in Abuja to deliberate on the future of the party following a recent   court judgement that sacked its leadership, urged  all members of the party  to  desist from further litigation and cooperate with one another to  chart a new course for  the party.

The group  led by the  erstwhile Deputy  National  Chairman, Chief  Ejike Uche observed  that the long  years of leadership tussle  within the party has not only been a major distraction but has  slowed down its growth and capacity to compete with other parties during elections.

Uche argued that with  the 2015 general election fast approaching and the  Anambra governorship election  less than eight months away,  any further pursuit of court actions by anybody cannot be  in the interest of the party.

The meeting  took an in depth analysis of the pronouncements made by the presiding Chief Judge of Enugu State on the matter brought before him by Ichie Jude Okoli, an APGA chieftain and chairman of the party in Udi Local Government Area  of Enugu State against the leadership of the party and advised Chief  Victor Umeh, the  former National Chairman of the party, to avoid further litigation in the interest of the party.

In  a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the party chieftains  observed that the judgement of the Enugu High Court which declared null and void the 2011 national convention of the party has completely dissolved all organs of the party from the Local Government to the national level.

The former NWC members also observed that the judgment has  only provided room for the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party to organise a credible national convention that would set on track the functional organs of the party.

According to the group, the growth, development and survival of the party should be paramount in the mind of all lovers and supporters of the party.

The great potentials  of  APGA , they said, have been consistently undermined by the penchant of the members of the party to resort to litigations on the slightest provocation on issues that ordinarily would have been resolved amicably in-house.

They urged the BOT of the party  to quickly convene a stakeholders meeting  to address the challenges of the party  and produce workable roadmap for its future.