C’River APC Crisis: Stakeholders Berate Usani, Izunaso

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

Some stakeholders of the Cross River State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have accused the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani; the Minister for Niger Delta, and the party’s National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso, of being responsible for deepening of the crisis rocking the party in the state.

To this end they are calling on the National Working Committee of the party to call both men to order, saying both of them were desirous of foisting illegality of the APC on the state.

While accusing Usani of allegedly being the mastermind of what they described as the illegal state congress that held on February 24, this year, the stakeholders specifically accused Izunaso of attempting to use his position to give credence to “a contraption of illegality sponsored by the minister, Usani in Cross River State”.

Addressing journalists in Calabar at the weekend, in response to a report credited to Izunaso, which quoted him as saying that Mr. Etim John was the duly elected chairman from mini-congress, the stakeholders represented by Chief Ernest Irek, Iso Bassey Edim, and Mr. Egere Osim, a lawyer, among others, declared that the mini-congress was illegal, and had since been declared null, void and of no effect.

The stakeholders said John, the minister, and some other members of the party had been on suspension for about six months back for anti-party activities before the staging of the illegal congress.

“Usani, his chief financier, also fell afoul of the party constitution, and was suspended equally, and that suspension and that of Etim John subsist. Their suspension had not been appealed nor lifted by the appropriate organ of the party. The state recognises Sir John Ochalla as the acting state chairman of the party”, Irek said.

Irek said the stakeholders, which they were representing, include a former governor of the state, former National Assembly members, and a host of other high profile personalities that want to see an end to the protracted crisis rocking the state chapter of the party.

“We support the initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari who has mandated our party national leader, Ahmed Bola Tinubu to mediate in crisis across state chapters, and Cross River State is one of such already listed state chapters for attention.

“Stakeholders cannot risk putting the state chapter and the party candidates that will emerge to carry the party flag for 2019 elections in jeopardy. We look forward to mediation by the Tinubu committee,” Irek said.

Irek faulted the conduct of the mini-congress on the basis that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was not notified neither were they present as constitutionally required during the disputed mini-congress.

Also speaking, Osim said he had been in touch with the APC National Legal Adviser, Muiz Banire who confirmed that following receipt of a legal process against the disputed mini-congress, advice was given that the mini-congress be put off.

He said since Usani and Izunaso were bent on getting their way, they ignored the court order and the directive of the national secretariat.

Osim said the illegality of the mini-congress was in many fronts, including the choice of the delegates. He said out of over 1,000 statutory delegates that would have participated in the mini-congress, the number was reduced in the most questionable manner to 109.

“Many statutory delegates across political wards in the state were left out”, Osim said.

One of the stakeholders, Comrade Iso Edim, alleged that last month, the national leadership of the party stated that they were not financially buoyant enough to embark on a state congress, but Usani went behind the scene with funds, which he claimed were sourced from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in Cross River State.

Edim said Usani was one of those responsible for the crisis rocking the APC in the state. “Usani is promoting divisions and disunity in APC Cross River State chapter in favour of Governor Ben Ayade. Usani is having unholy alliance with Governor Ayade of the PDP in Cross River State,” he alleged.

Edim said funds were brought in, and spent lavishly at the disputed mini-congress just to achieve their selfish aims of deepening the crisis in the state chapter of the party.

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