Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State has said Governor Hope Uzodinma and Chief Ikechi Emenike remain true leaders of the party in the South-east and Abia State, respectively.
Chairman of APC in Abia, Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu, made the clarification in a statement he issued in Umuahia following spate of media attacks on the Imo Governor and Emenike, who was the 2023 governorship candidate of APC in Abia State.
He particularly noted the recent attack launched by an opponent, saying that his claim of being a member of Abia APC was spurious, adding that “nothing can be farther from the truth.”
According to the Abia APC Chairman, the person had been identified through, “reliable enquiries as a jobless economic refugee in Abuja,” who was recruited to play the scripts of his sponsors to disparage genuine and hardworking APC leaders.
“The said person is neither a member of the Abia State chapter of APC nor has he, in any way, associated with the activities of the party in Abia State,” he said.
“It is despicable and condemnable that those who refused to participate, or openly worked against APC during the 2023 general elections, now wish to reap where they did not sow,” he added.
Ononogbu stated that it was a height of deceit and misrepresentation for somebody who was not in Abia during the 2023 general election to hawk figures of purported polling booth scores of APC leaders.
He said: “Since he likes to hawk figures, he should, for instance, provide the polling unit results of each of the listed so-called founding members of APC in Abia State
“Since they all claim to love President Tinubu, they should have at least delivered their polling units to him. Or was it that they were blinded by their hatred for Governor Hope Uzodinma and High Chief Ikechi Emenike that they all returned zero votes in their polling units for President Tinubu?
Ononogbu challenged the person and his co-travellers to be bold enough to publish their polling booth presidential election results vis-à-vis that of Chief Emenike to rate their electoral values.
He noted that “of the three states without APC governors, Abia State is the only one that secured a seat in the House of Assembly. And this is Chief Emenike’s immediate constituency.”
Meanwhile, the APC National Vice-chairman, South-east, Dr. Ijeoma Arodiogbu has berated the person over the vexatious and misleading publication in a national newspaper (not THISDAY) on February 24, 2024.
He said that “He is not known to be a member of All Progressives Congress, Abia State chapter and is not known to have participated in any activities of APC Abia State.”
Ijeoma made it clear that APC has “properly constituted channels for members to air their grievances” hence a genuine member of the party could not have taken the path of infamy.
