- Â Party insists ex-lawmaker, Chidoka remain aspirants
David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
An aspirant of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Hon Chudi Offodile, has told the national leadership of the party and its National Chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie, not to fight the Anambra State chapter of the party for him, but to work hard to mend fences with the executives of the party in the state.
The state chapter of the party had on Tuesday announced the suspension of Offodile and his co-aspirant on the platform of the party, Chief Osita Chidoka, for allegedly engaging in anti-party activities.
Addressing journalists in Awka yesterday, Offodile, a two-time member of the House of Representatives, said he had no case to answer before the state chapter of the party as some of the allegations levelled against him were alien to him.
He said: “They accused me of paying money into the private account of the national chairman and that I did not resign from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before joining the UPP. These are all false, and I have forwarded to them documents to show that I did not pay money into any personal account, and that I duly resigned from PDP before joining the party.
“The crisis you are seeing in the party is one that had started three weeks ago between the national body and the state executives of the party. I was thinking that they would have resolved it amicably, but they let it degenerate to this level.â€
He threatened to take a legal action against the state executives of the party if it failed to retract their accusations against him, saying as for the suspension, it was dead on arrival.
Offodile also called on the national leadership of the party to quickly resolve the crisis it has with the state chapter, while also condemning the purported sack of the entire executive of the party at a time when it had a role to play in the election of the party’s candidate.
Meanwhile, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Ogbuehi Dike, has reaffirmed that Offodile and the former Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, remain cleared as aspirants for the party’s primary election which holds tomorrow.
Dike who announced the reaffirmation of the aspirants said the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party was not going back on the dissolution of the Acting State Working Committee (SWC) in Anambra State, describing it as unfortunate and senseless rebellion.
He said: “It is a common knowledge that the NWC of our great party in an extraordinary meeting in Abuja on August 15, 2017 at the national secretariat in Abuja considered the report of unfortunate and senseless rebellion by some misguided members of the acting SWC of our party in Anambra State.
“The rebellious acting SWC of our party led by Dr. Sylvester Igwilo was dissolved and a caretaker committee shall be constituted immediately to take control of the SWC.
“The UPP governorship primary election scheduled to hold on August, 2017 at Emmaus House complex 47, Arthur Eze Avenue Awka as was communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), via a letter signed by the National Chairman of our great party Chief Chekwas Okorie and received on July 10, 2017 shall proceed unhindered.
