The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress in Ebonyi State may spell doom for the party in 2019, writes Benjamin Nworie
If the pronouncements by Justice H. A Njoku of Ebonyi State High Court sitting in Abakaliki is anything to go by, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun risks jail for failing to appear before the court on issues relating to protracted leadership struggle in the Ebonyi state chapter of the party.
The court has ordered him and the National Secretary of the party, Mai Mala Buni to appear before it on September 28, 2017 to convince the court why the duo should not be committed to prison for alleged disobedience of court orders.
The national chairman and national secretary had earlier been served with Form 48 which is the notice of consequence of disobedience to court order.
Welcome to the APC Ebonyi state chapter where the party has been embroiled in a leadership struggle between the chairman, Ben Nwobasi and his erstwhile deputy, Eze Nwachukwu. So protracted was the struggle that Nwobasi was forced to approach the state’s high court to restrain Nwachukwu from parading himself as the state chairman of the party.
The two leaders of the party are to appear in person to explain why they should not be committed to prison for disobeying an order of interlocutory injunction restraining them, their agents and privies from conducting any new congress aimed at electing new executives of the party in Ebonyi state.
Justice Njoku further ruled that he would not entertain any other application from the two respondents unless they appear in person as stated, stressing that if they fail to appear, they would face the consequences..
The judge, who frowned at the way the duo flouted the orders of the court, agreed with the counsel to the Applicants who had argued that based on an appeal court ruling the duo must appear in person to tell the court why they should not be commuted to prison for flouting the orders of the court.
The crisis began when Buni, on February 23, 2017 in a letter to Nwachukwu, conveyed to him, the approval of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) his nomination as the acting state chairman of the party in Ebonyi state.
This development, according to Oyegun was to assuage the pressures from stakeholders of the party in the state. Expectedly, the letter raised uproar, following which the national leadership of the party hurriedly wrote another withdrawal letter to Nwachukwu on the ground that the national leadership acted in ignorance of the subsisting court order, which precluded the respondents from continuing with the new appointment.
Buni in a copy of the letter dated April 25, 2017 which THISDAY obtained said “my attention has been drawn to a subsisting order of court granted by Hon. Justice A.A Nwaigwe of the State High Court Abakaliki, Ebonyi state on the 6th day of November 2014, restraining the party from taking any step in relation to the existing state executives. This therefore precludes us from continuing with your appointment as Acting Chairman of APC in Ebonyi State as such appointment will run foul of the court order and will be an affront to the rule of law which the party has sworn to uphold and abide byâ€.
Despite this however, the national leadership has continued to relate with him as the acting chairman and the head of the party in the state.
An indication to this effect manifested at the Presidential Villa during a meeting of the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo with state chairmen of APC where Nwachukwu was cleared as the authentic Ebonyi state chairman of the party to attend the meeting.
Before then, the two factions had conducted parallel delegate congress elections in the state. As Nwobasi’s APC held its own across the 13 council areas of the state, Nwachukwu’s faction relocated to Nkwegu Ugbala Grand Arena Hotel in Abakaliki, the state capital to conduct its own. Nwachukwu’s choice of hotel as his venue might have been as a result of the fact that be he is yet to secure office accommodation for his faction like Nwobasi, who is in control of the state office of the party.
However, Nwachukwu claimed that he chose a centralised venue to make it easier for all voters across the state to come and cast their votes.
“We started our congress by 1pm at Nkwegu Ugbala grand arena. We have to centralise the venue so that all the voters will come here and cast their votes; we are expecting all our members including the Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and other bigwig of the party,” he explained.
It was earlier alleged that Onu hijacked the five-man panel, who boarded the same flight to Enugu with him after discovering that Nwobasi and his supporters had thronged Enugu airport to receive the panel to an unknown place.
Contrary to the allegation however, the chairman of the panel, Alhaji Shenu Abdulkadir, who spoke to THISDAY on phone denied meeting with Onu and rejected the allegation that his panel was hijacked by the minister. He said that he was given specific instructions in a letter by the national secretariat of APC to look for one Eze Nwachukwu, who was addressed as the state acting chairman. He said that was what he did. which he did.
Abdulkadir said “I did not see Onu when I came to Ebonyi. I know Onu when we were in ANPP. I learnt there are two factions in Ebonyi and one of the factions is recognised by the national secretariat. I don’t even know any of the factions. I was given a letter from the national secretariat to look for the state acting chairman, one Eze Nwachukwuâ€.
“The letter instructed me to look for him with an attached address and phone number. The only thing that happened was that INEC disappeared on Saturday during congress but we were together on Friday when we arrived. They followed us to DSS, Police and even the hotel where we lodged but we did not see them on Saturday during the congressâ€.
However, the National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdulai expressed full assurance that all the issues in Ebonyi state chapter of the party would be addressed. He however pointed out that the challenges were not peculiar to APC.
“It’s true that in some states, like Taraba, Kogi, Kaduna, Rivers, Ebonyi we have issues. But we are tackling them one after the other. We have set up a panel to handle the issues. I don’t know the particular issue in Ebonyi state but I know we have issues tthere. We want everybody to remain but you have to know that the problems are not peculiar with APC, Abdullahi, APC spokesman said.
A top party source noted that the Ebonyi APC crisis has continued unabated due to the fear that if Nwobasi secures the control of the party, he may scheme out Onu’s camp in the 2019 general elections. Observers also fear that he may frustrate the defectors from the Labour Party, who are the life wire of the Nwachukwu’s camp.
Even as the crisis persists, the actors are not ready to shift ground because they believe that whoever eventually takes control of the party in the state will enjoy federal might during the 2019 general election. Most of them have also envisaged that with APC in control of the federal government, it would only take “mere instructions†from relevant quarters for them to wrestle power from the PDP leadership in the state.
But whether APC resolves its crisis or not, the choice of who will fly the flag of the party in the various positions will pose heavier challenges for the party, especially the governorship as the cry for zoning has continued to rent the air.
The reason for the clamour for equity, fairness and zoning principles is based on the fact that in Ebonyi state, the Abakaliki bloc controls two senatorial districts: central and north, while Afikpo bloc controls only the south senatorial zone.
Already, the APC crisis is helping the PDP to consolidate in the state, It has given the state governor, Dave Umahi, the latitude and time to strategise for his second term.
As the crisis in the APC Ebonyi continues to linger, many are of the view that the party’s bid to have a foothold in the southeast may be in jeopardy.
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Already, the APC crisis is helping the PDP to consolidate in the state, It has given the state governor, Dave Umahi, the latitude and time to strategise for his second term.
